 | When even the Guardian knows you're dirty ... |
A suitcase filled with $800,000 in cash has embroiled Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in a scandal which has fuelled claims of corruption and cover-up at the heart of his self-styled socialist revolution.
A court case involving wiretaps and explosive testimony has lifted the lid on alleged attempts to buy influence across Latin America, putting Chavez on the defensive during a torrid week of coup rumours and expulsions of human rights critics and the US ambassador. Tumbling oil prices compounded the anxiety in Caracas, which is almost wholly reliant on oil revenues, and prompted the President to warn that the government would rein in its free-spending ways.
| "Sorry amigos, but we have to pay the Russians off first." |
Chavez's most immediate headache came from a federal court in Miami which heard that Venezuela tried to funnel slush money to Argentina's President, Cristina Kirchner, for her successful election campaign last year. The Presidents denounced the story, which has been front-page news in both countries, as a 'garbage' attempt by Washington to smear South America's so-called 'pink tide' of left-wing leaders.
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