A tool to spy on the private lives of Venezuelan officials – Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond

The controversial case of the spyware software Pegasus has gained momentum following recent statements by the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in an interview with Telesur, in which he warned that this software, developed by the Israeli regime, is used to destabilize governments of Venezuela and Colombia.

The controversy has become even stronger after recent journalistic investigations revealed that during the administration of former Colombian President Iván Duque, the company NSO Group, maker of Pegasus, was hired to transfer software worth $11 million, of which the money allegedly comes from drug trafficking. human trafficking, which was reportedly paid entirely in cash and in two installments of $5.5 million each and sent directly to the Zionist regime by Colombian officials.

As a result, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced the call for a security summit between Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, as the espionage actions of the system created in the Zionist colony have also affected the government of outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López. Obrador.

The main aim of the summit will be to address the impact of this spyware software, which has been linked to the surveillance of progressive governments in the region and their overthrow. The meeting, promoted by Colombia, aims to clarify the extent of espionage in the region and ensure that the human rights and sovereignty of these countries, which have been targeted by these operations, are respected.

Recently, Colombian Senator Antonio Correa of ​​the U Party warned in an interview that the use of Pegasus coincides with acts of destabilization in Venezuela since the end of the last decade, which are part of the plan to remove progressive presidents from power. in the region.

The operation in Venezuela
Looking back a little at the background of the case, it is worth recalling that the espionage system gained momentum during the government of Iván Duque in Colombia, not only to intercept telephone conversations of his political opponents, but also as a means to carry out conspiratorial plans against the government of Venezuela.

In this context, President Nicolás Maduro said in the aforementioned interview that Iván Duque, through Pegasus, managed to gain access to the phones “of important political, social and military leaders in Venezuela.”

The Venezuelan president added that Duque “had always supported Juan Guaidó in carrying out a coup. We were informed in real time about how he used to plot and try to assassinate key leaders of the Bolivarian Revolution and target me.” The president also said that US agencies, such as the DEA and the CIA, have set up a bunker in Bogotá, Colombia, where they are recruiting assassins to carry out these plans.

Background
In the case of Venezuela, an investigation was published in August 2022 by journalist Edinson Bolaños in the Colombian magazine Raya. The article reported that at that time a new espionage and destabilization operation against the Venezuelan state had already begun, called Project Genesis.

Colombian intelligence services carried out espionage without a judicial warrant and in violation of Colombia’s National Intelligence Law, creating a scenario of extreme tension between the two countries.

The infiltration, espionage and plans to discredit the diplomatic corps and the Venezuelan government were just the tip of the iceberg of the entire plot hatched from abroad against Venezuela on the orders of Iván Duque and Donald Trump.

According to the report, Colombian intelligence had 28 sources within the Venezuelan security forces, including a brigadier general in Mérida state tasked with finding more cooperative targets within the armed forces.

This network of informants included colonels, lieutenants, naval lieutenants, frigate lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, officers of the Bolivarian Navy, members of the police, and members of the Bolivarian militia. This operation allowed Colombia to obtain information on the status of its aerospace defense system and training and instruction plans in the event of a military uprising by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) or in the event of a military invasion by the United States . States, which has not been ruled out, according to documents from Colombian military intelligence.

Other objectives achieved by the Colombian Intelligence Service under the Duque government were to gain access to the main exercises and maneuvers carried out in various regions of Venezuela, to take photographs and collect sensitive information within the FANB, to spying on political figures at the regional level of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Venezuela (PSUV) to build their profiles and prepare reports on the cases in which the nation acted in response to provocations from the US government, a country that attempted to violate Venezuelan air and maritime space.

President Maduro: US behind destabilizing plans against progressive governments in Latin America (+Pegasus)

Colombian intelligence also reportedly tried to gain access to the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense server.

An article published by Vincenzo Caruso in several Colombian newspapers notes that recent revelations by Colombia’s National Intelligence Service (DNI) have exposed a plot of espionage and manipulation involving former President Iván Duque and radical sectors of the Venezuelan opposition . .

Caruso adds that “the DNI report shows that Duque did not act alone; his ambition was fueled by the desperation and lack of scruples of those who, unable to build, chose to destroy. Using Pegasus, he attempted to infiltrate the private lives of Venezuelan officials.”

The journalist also revealed that “through the use of this software, Duque tried to shape the future of Venezuela according to his own interests, playing with the lives and decisions of thousands of people. It is not simply an act of espionage, but a reflection of a will to power that, given its inability to legitimately exert influence, resorts to the most sinister tools to impose its vision on the world.”

Money laundering
Jorge Lemus, director of the DNI, confirmed that the software was purchased between June and September 2021 through the transfer of $11 million in cash from Bogotá to Tel Aviv.

The money, which came from drug cartel seizures, was not reported to Colombia’s tax authorities. This is a money laundering crime.

“They knew they were committing a crime, so they acted secretly,” Lemus said.

(Últimas Noticias) by Reinaldo Linares

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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