Message to INFODIO readers: investigative journalism, which is what this site does, takes lots of time. Visiting media looking for a quick run down on Venezuela's gargantuan corruption, have the decency to at least cite the source when plagiarising this site's content without attribution (exhibit Reuters here and here, exhibit Bloomberg here, exhibit OCCRP here). To all readers, do the right thing, the honest thing: support independent investigative journalism, help us expose rampant corruption. Note added 28/06/2021: impostors are using this site's former editor's full name, and a fake email address (alek.boyd.arregui@gmail.com) to send copyright infringement claims / take down requests to web hosting companies (exhibit Hostgator). The attempt is yet another effort paid by corrupt thugs to erase information about their criminal activities. Infodio.com has no issues with other websites / journalists using / posting information published here, so long as the source is properly cited.

Vielma Mora criticises Maduro's repression

This is an important development. Governor Jose Vielma Mora of Tachira State, where student protests started on 2 Feb., declared in a radio interview this morning (here alternative audio source) that he is against the brutal repression with which the Maduro regime has deal with protests. He also said he disagrees with keeping political prisoner Ivan Simonovis and opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez in jail.

Vielma Mora is one of the most respected figures of chavismo. He comes from the military (participated in Chavez's 1992 coup) and gained a degree of admiration after taking over and restructuring SENIAT, Venezuela's tax agency, between 2000-2008. Vielma Mora has been referred to, perhaps wrongly, as the only efficient chavista.

That he is seeking to put distance with the brutality that Maduro has unleashed on students across the country could signal the first open, and public, schism within of chavismo. Vielma Mora graduated with Diosdado Cabello (Tomas Montilla Padron, class of 1987), and his loyalty rests with Cabello.