Reuters reports that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has hired Cleary Gottlieb, a Washington law firm skilled in debt negotiations, to help him on the path he hopes will bring him to power. The most immediate task for a potential restructuring is protecting Citgo, a U.S. refiner owned by PDVSA [Venezuela’s state-owned oil company]. The...
Category: Americas
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Amnesty International Denounces Pegasus Spyware
From Amnesty International Research has documented the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to target a wide swathe of civil society, including at least 24 human rights defenders, journalists and parliamentarians in Mexico; an Amnesty International employee; Saudi activists Omar Abdulaziz, Yahya Assiri, Ghanem Al-Masarir; award-winning Emirati human rights campaigner Ahmed Mansoor; and allegedly, murdered Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. The complaint describes just...
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Mossad and the Rise of the VC-Spy Alliance
The growth of intelligence agencies in the 21st century has been powered by the development of new technologies, created by start-ups, which are powered by intelligence agencies. This unvirtuous circle of money and espionage is a new and daunting challenge for civil liberties and human rights groups. The U.S intelligence community has a venture capital...
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Inside SEBIN, Venezuela’s Powerful Intelligence Agency
At the heart of the struggle for power in Venezuela is SEBIN, the country’s premier security service. In late April, the United States hoped the defection of SEBIN director general Manuel Christopher Figuera would set up a popular uprising to oust embattled president Nicholas Maduro. That didn’t happen. SEBIN’s role, for better or worse, remains...
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RIP: Bernardo De Torres, Bay of Pigs Veteran and CIA-Linked Drug Trafficker
Trained by the CIA and then cut loose, Bernardo De Torres exemplified what is known as the “disposal problem” in secret intelligence work: What do you do with the people who have been trained for covert action and violent “regime change” operations after U.S. policy fails or changes? How do you dispose of them? De...