Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro’s problems are intensifying on all fronts. He has now been directly implicated in the ongoing Lava Jato corruption investigation in Brazil. According to leaked reports of testimony provided by Marcelo and Emilio Odebrecht, as well as the Brazilian political marketing specialists João Santana and his wife and business partner Mónica Moura, Maduro was the point man for the payment of millions of dollars to Santana and Moura for the late president Hugo Chávez’s re-election campaign in 2012. A huge chunk of the money came from Odebrecht and another Brazilian construction company, Andrade Gutiérrez, both awarded extensive public works contracts in Venezuela by the Chávez government. Some US$7m was provided by Odebrecht and US$2m by Andrade Gutiérrez, the testimony indicates. According to Moura, Maduro, then foreign minister, paid her US$11m in cash at his government office over the course of several meetings, and routinely provided her with a security escort.
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