It has become public that Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, the tyrant who replaced Hugo Chavez, and continued his oppression of the country, has been financing his efforts by selling the country's gold reserves. This information came to light when it was revealed that shipments were being airlifted to Africa for processing and ultimate sale on the world market. These shipments came in the form of gold bars marked with the stamps of the Venezuelan government. Some of the bars were defaced in an attempt to conceal the bar's origins.
There's a refinery in central Africa that can assay the material, verify its content, and mark it as such for international sale. An investigation into amounts processed indicate Maduro has liquidated over $200 millions of the country's wealth, and has used the proceeds to fund his military support by paying them directly with the proceeds, but not in essentially worthless 'New' bolivars. So the tangled web of his quasi-government teeters on the brink of total collapse, only sustained by depletion of reserves that could be used to rescue the economy of the once wealthy nation. Maduro, supported in large part by Cuba, has seen his Russyan friends begin their exit from the country where about 1000 Russyans were on board to support the regime; but now, in the absence of any economic payments for the support troops, they are being recalled.
Will this hasten the removal of Maduro? As long as his military continues to give him protection, he will remain in power. The missing link is the moral fiber of military leaders: they have none. The Western hemisphere awaits a new government, and continues to observe the human rights violations that occur daily.
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