As if it were an online gambling commercial, the extremist movement “Almost Venezuela”, promoted by the American war businessman, Erik Prince, has finally revealed that the much-anticipated D-Day is a campaign to collect money to finance the overthrow of the legitimate government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
Prince, owner of the company ‘Academi’, dedicated to the sale of military supplies (previously known as ‘Blackwater’), said on his social networks that since Monday, September 16, his accounts will be receiving donations in cryptocurrencies and in dollars, to finance what he has called the “fight for freedom in Venezuela.”
Linked to the hiring and sending of mercenaries to different countries where his government does not want to get its hands dirty, Prince is now undertaking this campaign against the Maduro government and, although he has not revealed what he will do with the money raised, his fame speaks of his methods to turn prosperous countries into ruins.
The controversial American businessman said in his message to the extremist Venezuelan opposition and its financiers abroad that it is time to “vote with dollars,” in a clear message aimed at raising money, but without explaining the objective of this new plan against the country.
The miracle of Simonovis
It is not surprising that in the face of such a threat to national peace, extremist voices have emerged in support of Prince’s call. The fugitive from justice, Iván Simonovis, who allegedly faked an illness to receive special treatment in the prison from which he finally escaped, joined the call against the peace of Venezuelans.
Simonovis, a former Metropolitan Police commissioner responsible for a number of crimes including several against humanity, has expressed his support for the campaign, although it is not yet clear how the funds raised will be used.
In a video posted on social media, which has not been censored in this case, a miraculously recovered Simonovis invited those interested in collaborating with the overthrow of the government to put their contribution in dollars on the website of the American businessman.
Putting your hand in your pockets
The Venezuelan opposition has been characterized by seeking shortcuts outside the constitution and the law to try to come to power. Since the coup against Commander Hugo Chavez in 2002, through various conspiracies such as the oil strike, the hiring of paramilitaries to kill him or the activation of the first riots, they have not stopped in their desire to seize political power.
The government of Nicolás Maduro has not lacked this dose, and has been the recipient of the most diverse forms of disturbance of peace. Coup attempts, armed operations, assassination attempts, attacks against public services, a blow to the economy, financial asphyxiation and street violence are some of the recipes that the national right has applied against Maduro.
They have invoked political strategies with bombastic names such as “The Exit”, “The Last Line”, “the end of the usurpation” and “until the end”, to generate expectations among sectors opposed to the government and make them believe that it is already finished. All these plans have had international financial support.
But this is the first time that an attempt to overthrow the Bolivarian revolution has so blatantly taken advantage of the pockets of ordinary opposition voters. The “Almost Venezuela” initiative has all the appearance of becoming another of the opposition’s great scams, but this time it goes much further than a fraud against trust.
Prince and the guns
Erik Prince’s involvement in illegal arms trafficking is nothing new. Under the guise of Blackwater, he supplied weapons to several countries in Africa and the Middle East, which are currently suffering from internal armed conflicts.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has accused Prince of being behind recently seized arms trafficking aimed at destabilizing Maduro’s government, and has hinted that opposition figures such as Maria Corina Machado could be involved in the fundraising drive.
Since the destination of these funds raised is not clear, it is not known whether they are intended to finance armed groups, generate street violence, finance political parties or pay mercenary groups. The obscurity of the initiative leaves many negative things to the imagination.
Erik Prince has been an influential figure in private security, especially through Blackwater, his company that became famous for its involvement in the Iraq War and the Baghdad massacre incident in 2007, which resulted in the deaths of 17 civilians.
