CARACAS, Monday September 15, 2008 | Update
Politics
The star witness of the US Federal Attorney General in the
case of the suitcase scandal, Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson,
will take the stand this week to give evidence in a trial
against Venezuelan businessman Franklin Durán.
Durán has been accused of acting as a foreign agent
for the Venezuelan government to cover up a political cash
scandal.
Antonini, a Venezuelan-US businessman, was carrying the well-known
suitcase stuffed with USD 800,000 coming from the Venezuela
government, presumably for the election campaign of brand-new
Argentinean President Cristina Fernández, Efe reported.
The court action against the Durán, the only one of
the five defendants who has pleaded not guilty, will start
again next Wednesday.
05:09 PM. Economy. If any country has cashed in on the Bolivarian revolution, that is Brazil, particularly the private companies of the southern neighbor. Over the past five years, it has been awarded contracts for works to be carried out in Venezuela for over USD 14 billion. This puts it as the first recipient of government-to-government contracts, that is, without bidding, since Hugo Chávez took office.