Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Jeffrey Epstein and the Latin American Power Brokers Around His Network (Part 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
- 0:06Speaker 1: where we left off with that Miami Herald article that
- 0:09Speaker 1: was authored by sure show Dasgupta and the headline once again,
- 0:15Speaker 1: oil and Venezuela research in Cuba, inside Epstein's ties to
- 0:19Speaker 1: Latin America trouble and Porto Colbeo. Chavez had ordered all
- 0:26Speaker 1: of Venezuela's ports to be expropriated. The ports wu's private
- 0:30Speaker 1: owners did not comply would be seized by the military.
- 0:33Speaker 1: At the time, Porto Cabello, a port roughly two hundred
- 0:37Speaker 1: miles west of Caracas, was being run by a private
- 0:40Speaker 1: company called DP World. As I write this, our operations
- 0:45Speaker 1: have ceased to be under our control, the company's highest
- 0:48Speaker 1: ranking official in the region, wrote in an email to
- 0:50Speaker 1: DP World's top executives on August first that year. And
- 0:54Speaker 1: of course that was one of the big things that
- 0:56Speaker 1: Hugo Schabz did. He nationalized all of the oil and
- 1:02Speaker 1: the companies that were running these oil companies at the
- 1:05Speaker 1: time they were sol and some of these companies ended
- 1:08Speaker 1: up missing out on billions and billions of dollars. So
- 1:12Speaker 1: once that happened all these different ports that were being
- 1:15Speaker 1: managed by international firms. They were just pushed out, And
- 1:20Speaker 1: of course that also led to what we saw recently
- 1:22Speaker 1: in Venezuela with Maduro being arrested by the Trump administration.
- 1:27Speaker 1: DP World CEO at the time, Sultan Akhmed Binsulium, with
- 1:31Speaker 1: whom Epstein had shared a decades long relationship, turned to
- 1:35Speaker 1: Epstein for advice. Hell of a massad agent. Huh, Jeffrey Epstein,
- 1:40Speaker 1: King of the Massad, hanging out with nothing but shakes
- 1:43Speaker 1: and oil barons and decorating his quote unquote mosque on
- 1:46Speaker 1: the island with Islamic trapings. But maybe Ian Carrol or
- 1:51Speaker 1: Candae Owens or one of these other morons can tell
- 1:54Speaker 1: us some more about how he's really the Massad. James Bond,
- 1:58Speaker 1: the financier, It was actually the Cubans who had push
- 2:01Speaker 1: Chavez to expropriate the ports. Epstein advised Ben Suliman to
- 2:06Speaker 1: travel to Cuba, went over the Castro regime and then
- 2:09Speaker 1: have them convince the Venezuelans to let DP World operate
- 2:13Speaker 1: the ports. Again, look, when you're dealing with somebody like
- 2:17Speaker 1: Hugo Chavez, when you're dealing with the former Venezuelan regime.
- 2:23Speaker 1: They'll play ball if you have the right amount of dough.
- 2:27Speaker 1: That's what it comes down to. Are you willing to
- 2:30Speaker 1: grease the wheels? And if the answer is yes, game on.
- 2:33Speaker 1: If the answer is no, you better find someplace else
- 2:36Speaker 1: to do business. Bensulium and his team The Record Show
- 2:42Speaker 1: planned to travel to Havana in late September that year
- 2:45Speaker 1: and meet with Cuban officials at the historic Hotel Saratoga.
- 2:50Speaker 1: Neither Bensulium nor DP World responded to The Herald's requests
- 2:54Speaker 1: for comment. The ports of Porto Cabello remain under the
- 2:58Speaker 1: control of the Venezuelan regime, and in their mind they
- 3:02Speaker 1: probably were making more money controlling the port than outsourcing it.
- 3:06Speaker 1: And up until Chavez took over, that was pretty much
- 3:10Speaker 1: how things were going in that country. The oil companies,
- 3:14Speaker 1: the foreign nationals, they had providence to do whatever they
- 3:18Speaker 1: wanted basically. But then when you had the socialist regime
- 3:22Speaker 1: come in, that changed and they nationalized everything and they
- 3:28Speaker 1: chased out a lot of the international businesses that were
- 3:31Speaker 1: running these ports and helping the country operate. Black Gold
- 3:38Speaker 1: of the Orinoco Diegestino, The Record Show planned to correct
- 3:43Speaker 1: his trip for Epstein in twenty twelve and promised him
- 3:47Speaker 1: an armored car and security contingent during his stay there.
- 3:50Speaker 1: Just a loan predator, Just a guy who likes to
- 3:53Speaker 1: do disgusting things. How many loan predators get a security
- 3:58Speaker 1: detail when they go down to venezuel to negotiate with
- 4:01Speaker 1: the regime. Maybe one of these people that liked to
- 4:03Speaker 1: tell us that Epstein wasn't an international trafficker would like
- 4:07Speaker 1: to answer that question. Then again, maybe not. A proposed
- 4:13Speaker 1: itinerary shows that he wanted to introduce Epstein to some
- 4:16Speaker 1: of the most influential figures in the country at the time.
- 4:19Speaker 1: They included Alejandro and roj Chavez, personal aid, Henry Ramos
- 4:25Speaker 1: alop di Agostino's brother in law and the leader of
- 4:29Speaker 1: the Venezuelan opposition at the time, Baldo Sonso, financial advisor
- 4:34Speaker 1: to the state controlled oil company, and Yuchi Chen, a
- 4:39Speaker 1: Chinese diplomat. Well, I wonder why he wanted to introduce
- 4:41Speaker 1: him to a Chinese diplomat. I'm sure that mister Chen
- 4:46Speaker 1: wasn't corrupt. I'm sure that he wasn't over in Venezuela
- 4:49Speaker 1: up to no good on behalf of the CCP. Di
- 4:54Speaker 1: Agostino told The Herald that Epstein's plan trip to Venezuela
- 4:58Speaker 1: did not take place. He didn't answer why, well, why not?
- 5:03Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you answer why is there a reason? Why
- 5:08Speaker 1: wouldnt Epstein go? If it was all planned. During a
- 5:13Speaker 1: November nineteenth, twenty twelve lunch meeting with Epstein, the Agostino
- 5:17Speaker 1: discussed a business opportunity with them oil. The correspondence and
- 5:22Speaker 1: a copy of a non disclosure agreement reviewed by The
- 5:24Speaker 1: Herald show the discussion was about Venezuelan company Derwick Associates
- 5:29Speaker 1: joint venture with PDVSA to explore the oil fields along
- 5:34Speaker 1: the Ronoco River in the southern part of the country,
- 5:37Speaker 1: the largest petroleum reserves in the world. Think about that,
- 5:41Speaker 1: the largest in the world, more than Saudi Arabia, more
- 5:45Speaker 1: than Iran, more than anywhere in the Middle East, more
- 5:48Speaker 1: than America, more than Canada. And the people of Venezuela
- 5:53Speaker 1: were living the way they were living because these scumbags
- 5:56Speaker 1: in power decided to keep all that money for themselves.
- 6:00Speaker 1: Asociates chairman is Alejandro Bettencourt Lopez, whom di Agastino introduced
- 6:05Speaker 1: to Epstein. The record suggests that one of the topics
- 6:08Speaker 1: of discussion at di Agastino meeting with Epstein was the
- 6:13Speaker 1: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a federal law and at preventing
- 6:17Speaker 1: the bribery of foreign officials for a business gain. And
- 6:20Speaker 1: I'm of the belief that just about every business that
- 6:24Speaker 1: Epstein was involved in, whether it was behind the scenes
- 6:27Speaker 1: or up front, was corrupt, every last one of them.
- 6:31Speaker 1: And I'm also of the mind that if you were
- 6:33Speaker 1: in business with them and you benefited from ill gotten gains,
- 6:37Speaker 1: then you should be part of the conversation too, because
- 6:40Speaker 1: I promise you, if somebody was under RICO investigation and
- 6:44Speaker 1: they sent you some money, your account would be frozen
- 6:48Speaker 1: and the basis would be that you're receiving illicit funds.
- 6:52Speaker 1: You're getting funds from a criminal conspiracy. So now you're
- 6:56Speaker 1: a part of that criminal conspiracy, and you'd have to
- 7:00Speaker 1: jump through hoops, have to get a lawyer, go to
- 7:03Speaker 1: the court, the whole thing. Well, when it comes to
- 7:06Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein and his friends, no way, we can't have
- 7:10Speaker 1: a reco investigation, because of course that would lead to
- 7:13Speaker 1: real transparency, and that's exactly what they're trying to avoid.
- 7:17Speaker 1: Two years later, the Wall Street Journal reported that the
- 7:20Speaker 1: Justice Department was probing Derwick's business dealings in Venezuela for
- 7:24Speaker 1: potential corruption, an allegation that Derwick has denied. The Manhattan
- 7:29Speaker 1: District Attorney's office was also investigating the company for potential
- 7:33Speaker 1: violations of New York banking laws. The report said, huh,
- 7:37Speaker 1: you know that was happening. I had to tell you.
- 7:40Speaker 1: But all these people are breaking the law when it
- 7:43Speaker 1: comes to finances. These rich people, You think they have
- 7:46Speaker 1: the same rules we do, well, certainly not. And the
- 7:51Speaker 1: sad part is they benefit both ways. They get the
- 7:54Speaker 1: money tax free, and then on the back end they
- 7:57Speaker 1: find a way to shelter it so they never have
- 7:59Speaker 1: to pay tax on it, and on and on it goes.
- 8:04Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, the Venezuelan regime, having passed into Maduro's
- 8:09Speaker 1: hands after Chavez's death, also announced an investigation into the
- 8:13Speaker 1: company for the spectacular overpricing of oil contracts. According to Reuters,
- 8:19Speaker 1: the US imposed sanctions on Diagostino in twenty twenty one
- 8:23Speaker 1: for coordinating the trade of Venezuelan oil on behalf of PDVSA,
- 8:28Speaker 1: which it accused of being the Maduro regime's primary conduit
- 8:31Speaker 1: for corruption to exploit and profit from Venezuela's natural resources.
- 8:37Speaker 1: The Trump administration lifted the sanctions against di Agostino last year.
- 8:42Speaker 1: Of course he did. The Epstein administration is going to
- 8:45Speaker 1: take care of Epstein's buddies, and if they feel like
- 8:49Speaker 1: mister die Agostino can make them a few bucks, all
- 8:52Speaker 1: the better. I met mister Epstein only a few times
- 8:55Speaker 1: to discuss business opportunities in Venezuela oil sector that did
- 8:59Speaker 1: not materialize, di Agostino said in a statement to The Herald,
- 9:03Speaker 1: I decided not to engage in any dealings with mister Epstein. Subsequently,
- 9:08Speaker 1: Oh no, not at all. I'm sure you guys just
- 9:11Speaker 1: you know, broke off all contact and decided that was
- 9:14Speaker 1: that you already knew what Epstein was when you were
- 9:18Speaker 1: dealing with them. So don't give me the bullshit, save
- 9:22Speaker 1: the nonsense, save the stories, miss me with all of it. Bettancourt,
- 9:28Speaker 1: Miami based attorney, told The Herald that di Agostino had
- 9:31Speaker 1: introduced his client to Epstein, but that Betancourt never did
- 9:34Speaker 1: business with him and did not attend the November meeting.
- 9:38Speaker 1: Nobody did business with them, Nobody went to the meetings.
- 9:42Speaker 1: Nobody knew him, and it's all just a figment of
- 9:44Speaker 1: our imagination. Maybe all of us are suffering through the
- 9:47Speaker 1: Mandela effect and we just don't know it. Then again,
- 9:50Speaker 1: maybe these people are just, you know, lying. After the
- 9:55Speaker 1: initial introduction, mister Bettancourt never spoke to or corresponded with Epstein,
- 10:00Speaker 1: nor did Epstein ever invest with my client, he said.
- 10:04Speaker 1: Mister Bettancourt had no relationship with Epstein, business or personal. No,
- 10:08Speaker 1: not at all. Nobody knew him. Listen, guys, nobody had
- 10:11Speaker 1: any idea who Epstein was or what he was up to.
- 10:15Speaker 1: Nobody read the paper. Well you think the most powerful
- 10:18Speaker 1: people in the world don't have their finger on the
- 10:21Speaker 1: pulse and know what's going on in the news. I mean,
- 10:24Speaker 1: they really think you're dumb. That's what it comes down to.
- 10:26Speaker 1: And I know I keep saying it, but it needs
- 10:28Speaker 1: to be set again. They think that their narratives are
- 10:31Speaker 1: just gonna hit and they're just gonna get ran with,
- 10:34Speaker 1: and that everybody's gonna fall in line. But that's not
- 10:36Speaker 1: how it works anymore. And I know that everybody listening
- 10:40Speaker 1: right now nobody believes it, and nobody believes that Jeffrey
- 10:44Speaker 1: Epstein was a lone wolf. The Justice Department in the
- 10:50Speaker 1: Manhattan District Attorney's Office did not answer The Herald's questions
- 10:53Speaker 1: about whether Epstein was also part of their probes into Dirwick. Look,
- 10:58Speaker 1: we had that dea probe and Epstein was named, so
- 11:01Speaker 1: was that this probe? I think it's highly likely. I
- 11:05Speaker 1: can't confirm it, obviously, but I think it's highly likely.
- 11:08Speaker 1: Federal officers arrested Epstein in July twenty nineteen on sex
- 11:13Speaker 1: trafficking charges. He was found dead in federal custody in
- 11:16Speaker 1: Lower Manhattan a month later, on August tenth, twenty nineteen.
- 11:21Speaker 1: And when I was talking about South America previously, I
- 11:23Speaker 1: told you that we're going to learn a lot more.
- 11:25Speaker 1: And here we are, and I think that this is
- 11:27Speaker 1: just the tip of the iceberg. Because Jeffrey Epstein, Jean
- 11:31Speaker 1: Luke Brunel, and god knows who else we're actively using
- 11:34Speaker 1: South America as a hunting ground for literally decades. So
- 11:39Speaker 1: just how many people have found themselves caught up in
- 11:42Speaker 1: that web, my guess is a lot more than we know.
- 11:46Speaker 1: And in that vein, we're going to keep on keeping on,
- 11:49Speaker 1: and when we have some more information about South America
- 11:52Speaker 1: and Jeffrey Epstein's operation down there will get it added
- 11:55Speaker 1: to the catalog. All the information that goes with this
- 11:58Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box.