Valijagate threatens to embroil at least one South American leader. Photo: Flickr user quecomunismo |
There’s a story in Argentina that has become widely known under a simple title: La Valija (the suitcase). It should be destined to become that country’s version of Watergate. “Valijagate” refers to the discovery in August 2007 that Guido Antonini, a Venezuelan-born American, was carrying a suitcase containing $800,000 in U.S. currency when he arrived on a private plane at the Buenos Aires city airport, Aeroparque Jorge Newberry.
A new book, Los Secretos de la Valija (The Secrets of the Suitcase), is just out in Argentina, written by an Argentine colleague, Hugo Alconada, a journalist with La Nacion and the newspaper’s former Washington correspondent. (Full disclosure: Hugo is a friend, and he mentions me in the acknowledgments of the book, but I didn’t work on the investigation itself).
Alconada’s story percolates with intrigue and new revelations about the suitcase and Antonini, who ultimately said in a Miami trial that he was carrying the loot on behalf of a top Argentine official and that the money was from the Venezuelan oil monopoly, PDVSA.
But that came only after he wore a wire and became a cooperating witness with the U.S. Government. In resulting tapes, Venezuelan handlers promised him protection for claiming the suitcase was his, and not revealing that the suitcase was sent to the presidential campaign of the now-president of Argentina, Christina Kirchner.
Argentinian officials have denied involvement and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has charged Antonini was employed by the Bush administration in a campaign to malign his government.
Alconada’s book, so far only in Spanish, deserves publication in English in the United States. His extensive investigation reveals:
- The plane carrying Antonini and the suitcase that was transporting much more than the $800,000 — a total of $5 million.
- Despite government denials, Antonini went to the Argentina presidential palace, the Casa Rosada, after the money was seized at the airport. Moreover, the book details a plan in which Argentine and Venezuelan officials coordinated a cover-up of the case.
- It also notes that Antonini had a history of working for Chavez. He helped organize trips to 24 countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and Pacific islands in a 2006 vanity campaign by the Chavez government to promote Venezuela’s appointment to a temporary slot on the UN Security Council.
There’s an interesting sidelight to the cloak and dagger story. A funny thing happened earlier this month as Alconada answered questions at a bookstore to promote his story. At some point, possibly when a questioner approached him as a distraction, his briefcase, which contained notes about three of his current investigations, disappeared.
A similar black briefcase was left in its place.
Alconada doesn’t get it and jumps to no conclusions. “My newspaper wrote a small piece about it, and it became a big deal. I don’t know how to explain what happened.”
- Peter Eisner
03/09/2010 :: 10:37:18 AM
Rev. Al Says:
IS AMNESTY PERHAPS WORSE THEN OBAMACARE?
Let’s see if Obama Amnesty is possibly worse than Obamacare.
Obama amnesty will give all the criminals of every nationality that came across our borders citizenship to all our amenities, to the Muslim Mafia, to the Latino Mafia from every South and Central American nation, including Communist Columbia. Is that what you the Patriot want?
Obama amnesty will eliminate our Constitutional protections against government take over even more.
1. It will give illegal alien Obama himself citizenship, which at present he cannot prove.
2. It will open the door to any foreigner, if he and his backers are rich enough, to become president. As long as OUR Constitution means nothing to the liberals except to what they claim, they can again put anyone into office they and our treasonous TV News companies think should be in office. They give free time to the people of their own choice.
Obama amnesty would guarantee the liberal coup to taking over our nation. To whom will the
illegal amnestied aliens give their vote? Naturally to the Democrats and to the Kenyan Muslim, Obama, who gave them this free admission to all of America’s riches. 10 to 12 million extra voters would guarantee that Obama and his liberals had taken over our nation, a ith armed body guards, as the rich must do in South American countries, would keep them out for only a while.
Nothing will stop this dictator except that each state secede from the Union yesterday. All Federal giveaways must be rejected. Each state must rule itself separately and jointly only with other seceded states under the Constitution. The faster this takes place, the more the liberals will see their isolation with the immense problem they have created.
There can be no compromise with liberals. They will follow no God given conscience, much less what is left of our Constitution. They are possessed by their own wisdom which the devils have filled them with.
I hope that none of this happens. But what are we Patriots going to do to stop this dictator and his socialist liberals from continuing to take over our nation? Because now, we do not have just a Kenyan Chicago style Mafia god father in OUR WHITE HOUSE. We now have a Kenyan Mafia DICTATOR whom the one world liberals in government and in our TV News companies love and support. If Obama gives amnesty to all the illegal aliens, they will have the “authority” to put into OUR WHITE HOUSE ANY other future foreigner they choose. Where will the money come from? From all the places in the world that first put this foreigner into OUR office of president. He still has millions of donations to keep us from his records of truth.
No Patriot running for office will ever be able to compete with world wide millionaires in raising funds. So, THE LIBERALS will HAVE SUCCEEDED IN BREAKING THE VOTING RIGHTS OF EVERY ONE OF US PATRIOTS. These liberal politicians and the majority of THEIR Supreme Court, including the chief justice who swore into OUR HIGHEST OFFICE the present illegal alien CONTRARY TO HIS OWN OATH, WITH the backing of most of our TV News companies have no loyalty to OUR TOTAL CONSTITUTION.
And OUR CONTSTITUTION WILL BE A DOCUMENT OF HISTORY. THE LIBERALS WILL OWN OUR LAWS, OUR WHITE HOUSE, OUR SENATE AND OUR HOUSE. And our descendents will be at their mercy. Our nation, being already bankrupt, will be at the mercy of the World Bank. While in our lawless neighborhoods, WE PATRIOTS will eventually be at the mercy of MUSLIM SHARIAH LAW.
All this because we kept on killing God’s babies at 3500 a day.
So, is Obama amnesty worse than Obama care? You be the judge.
Dear Jesus! We are Your servants. We saints, and the persecuted saints of the world, need America as Your safe haven. For the sake of those who have not heard of Your eternal salvation, bring total revival to our land. Rid us of Yours and our enemies. Save America for Your saints and our descendents, free from the tyranny of Your enemies, this dictator, these liberals, and world conquering Islam. Raise this Your nation to again be a light upon a hill, which no man can extinguish. We want to be Your servants into eternity with You. We implore You to give favor to all Your Patriots who are running for office. Give them power to undo every unconstitutional act this foreigner with His liberals has forced upon us Your servants. Bring us out of this indebtedness by cutting this government down to Constitutional size, so that Your Patriots are again be free to create the jobs so many so desperately need. Open our oil wells so that our fuel prices can drop and we are no longer financing our enemies in Islamic Iran and Saudi Arabia. You are only God, our only helper. All glory be to Your name forever and ever. Amen.