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Suitcase scandal comes to the fore again
El Universal
December 17, 2007

FBI arrests three Venezuelans accused of conspiring against US laws

Three Venezuelans and an Uruguayan national were arrested Wednesday night by US FBI. They are accused of conspiring to act as agents of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela within the United States, without prior notification to the Attorney General of the United States, as required by law, according to Venezuelan local news channel Globovisi n.

The Venezuelans arrested are Carlos Kauffman, Moises Maionica y Franklin Duran. Uruguyan citizen Rodolfo Edgardo Wanseele Paciello was also arrested.

The detention was announced by Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for Justice Department's National Security Division, R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office.

Thursday 13

Cristina Fernandez vows to keep ties with Venezuela despite "pressures"

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez Thursday said her relation with Venezuela would remain staunch, at a time when the United States justice suspects that the USD 800,000 a Venezuelan citizen unsuccessfully tried to smuggle into Argentina last August were intended to fund her presidential campaign.

"This President may be a woman, but she is not taking any pressures. I will continue to reassert our relations with the Latin American countries and also with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," Fern ndez said in the Argentinean Government House, Reuters reported.

Argentina rebuts criminal complaint related to the suitcase scandal

Argentinean Minister of Justice and Security An bal Fern ndez Thursday labeled as a "caddish trick" the criminal complaint filed by a Miami attorney claiming that the USD 800,000 Venezuelan-US citizen Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson unsuccessfully tried to smuggle into Argentina last August 4 -and which were confiscated by the Argentinean Customs Service- were intended to fund the electoral campaign of Argentinean President Cristina Fern ndez, who took office last Monday.

The Argentinean government was first reacting to the complaint filed by the Federal Assistant Attorney General of Miami Thomas Mulvihill. Minister Fern ndez told government news agency T lam and radio stations Am rica and 10 that "the information is so disproportionate it has caddish characteristics."

Subsequently, the chief of the ministers' cabinet Alberto Fernandez told Radio 10 that the Argentinean President "reacted with surprise" when she heard the statement of the US attorney, AP reported.

Argentinean President rejects "smear plan" related to Antonini's case

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez Thursday branded as a "smear plan" the complaint filed by a Miami-based Attorney General about the alleged remittance of foreign funds to Argentina to finance her electoral campaign, and said he should not accept any pressures.

Fernandez added that her government would continue to improve relations with Venezuela and other Latin American countries, AP reported.

Suitcase scandal makes an impact on Argentina-US relations

As appears from the first official reactions in Argentina, the so-called "suitcase scandal" made an impact on Argentina-US relations and strengthened ties with Venezuela.

Brand new Argentinean president Cristina Fern ndez de Kirchner jumped on Thursday and railed on the findings and data disclosed by the US government.

US Federal Judge and Assistant Attorney General of Miami Tom Mulvihill said that the cash carried last August 4th by US-Venezuelan businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson was meant for then Argentinean presidential candidate Fernandez.

Fernandez blasted on Thursday the United States, without naming the country, and promised that she would not give in a "smear campaign," DPA reported.

US: defendant confirms Antonini's money was intended for Kirchner's campaign

A Venezuelan national arrested in Miami as undercover agent of Venezuela and friend of US-Venezuelan businessman Guido Antonini Wilson stated that the USD 800,000 Antonini tried to smuggle into Argentina last August 4 were intended to fund the presidential campaign of Cristina de Kirchner, who took office last Monday, the Attorney General Office told AFP.

"The Attorney General said in hearing yesterday (Wednesday) that defendant (Franklin) Duran admitted, during a taped conversation, that the money was to fund the presidential campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner," said Alicia Valle, spokeswoman for the Miami Federal Attorney General Office.

The name of the Argentinean President was not directly quoted in the Attorney General's complaint, but as part of the complaint's references to the information obtained and which resulted in the arrest of four people accused of acting as Venezuelans agents to conceal the facts.

"The money was intended for Cristina Kirchner's campaign," said Federal Assistant Attorney Thomas Mulvihill when referring in his presentation before the federal court to a tape recording he obtained as part of the evidence. "These defendants were instructed to hide the role of Venezuela" in this international scandal.

Antonini helped FBI collect proofs against alleged Venezuelan agents

Venezuelan-US business Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson cooperated with the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) in getting evidence against the presumed Venezuelan government agents detained in the United States, released The Miami Herald.

According to the daily newspaper, Antonini even "took a microphone" to one of the meetings held with Franklin Duran and Carlos Kauffmann, two of the five defendants. The meeting took place at Jackson's Steakhouse, a restaurant located in Fort Lauderdale, North Miami.

The investigators did not disclose Antonini's whereabouts or confirmed his involvement in the enquiry. Antonini's official residence is in Key Biscayne, South Miami, DPA reported.

US Department of State denies taking part in operation related to the suitcase scandal

The US Department of State denied on Thursday any involvement in an operation that found that the USD 800,000 seized last August in a Buenos Aires airport were meant to the election campaign of Argentinean President Cristina Fern ndez, DPA reported.

"We were aware of the case, but the extent of our involvement went up there. I must underscore that this is, in the event you do not know, an operation conducted by the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

McCormack denied that the Department of State had asked the Attorney General Office to delay the detention of the defendants and the case release until Fernandez's inauguration. He claimed to have no news about such request by other government agencies.

US Assistant Secretary says that the suitcase issue "is a police matter"

Everything related to the suitcase filled with cash that was seized from a Venezuelan in Argentina last August "is a police business," said on Thursday US Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon.

"Our Department of Justice has an investigation against some individuals for law violation and it is a police matter intended to enforce the laws inside the United States," said Shannon during a press conference in Brasilia.

Reference was made to an investigation into the amount of USD 800,000 in cash which was confiscated from a Venezuelan businessman upon his arrival in Buenos Aires on board a privately chartered aircraft carrying also some executive officers of state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), Efe reported.

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