Defendant in the suitcase scandal tried to silence Antonini to gain "more power"

After recovering from the emotional moments and tears shed during his first 15 minutes of interrogation, Carlos Kauffmann, the former friend and partner of Venezuelan businessman Franklin Durán, replied firmly to the questions asked by assistant US attorney Thomas Mulvihill. And his message was recorded in the minds of the jury. Kaufmann repeated the message several times. "Nobody wanted Alejandro Antonini to tell the truth", Kauffmann insisted. "We all knew that the money did not belong to him. We manipulated him. We made him feel guilty in order to sign the power of attorney on behalf of a lawyer in Argentina. That was our goal," Kauffman acknowledged. "I am held responsible. My government asked me to do something and I did it because that way I could get more power, more money, new government contracts," he stressed.

Kauffmann pleaded guilty to two counts (conspiracy and illegally acting as a Venezuelan agent in the United States, without notifying the local authorities) on February 29, 2008. Since then, he cooperates with the prosecution to make out a case against Durán. The witness said that the money belonged to Pdvsa and was aimed at the campaign of Cristina de Kirchner. He also said that Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez designated Henry Rangel Silva, the director of the intelligence services (Disip), to manage the case and solve the suitcase scandal. Kaufmann has said that the then Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez was aware of everything and that the current Minister of Interior and Justice, Tarek El Aissami "would be the responsible for the counter surveillance operations."

He also explained the involvement of Diego Uzcátegui and cited the names of the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) officials to which Venoco (the company of Durán and Kauffmann) paid "hundred of thousands of dollars" in exchange for information and raw materials. "We bribed Rocío Ramírez, Jasmine and I do not remember the name, and someone at the Curaçao refinery," admitted Kauffmann, who holds Venezuelan and German passports. The businessman, who is expecting a reduction of the sentence and has agreed that he and his family (his wife, María Gabriela Jiménez, and their three children), can stay in the United States or in a third country willing to receive them.

Unlike Antonini, who never looked at Durán during his appearance, crossed glances with his friend every time he entered and left the courtroom. In fact, they still have common interests, such as the USD 28 million they share in a US bank account.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/10/02/en_pol_esp_defendant-in-the-sui_02A2037371.shtml

Everyone knows that Chavez wouldn't try to illegally manipulate or interfere with democratic processes in other countries.

don't you think?

But you knew that already, since it was discussed in an earlier thread of yours: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=7098&mesg_id=7150

So you don't really shed much light here. The fact, that the involved plane had the same registration number as another plane (from the same manufacturer) which was registered to a private military contractor in the US, adds support to the view (which I expressed in an another earlier thread) that this "case" is part of an intelligence game:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=8570&mesg_id=8570
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=7585&mesg_id=7610