Scammers in Venezuela are selling desperate people non-existent government food aid packages – in the latest episode of the handout program being used to commit fraud.According to reporting by El Pitazo, victims are contacted over WhatsApp and offered food boxes from the government’s Local Storage and Production Committees (Comités Locales de Abastecimiento y Producción – CLAP). The packages are priced at 50 Venezuelan bolívars, or around $10, though the packages are meant to be handouts for poor Venezuelans. Full Text -> InSightCrime

Versión español -> Estafadores en Venezuela se aprovechan de la desesperación de los venezolanos para estafar con la venta de paquetes de ayuda alimentaria gubernamental inexistentes, subvenciones pertenecientes a un programa que se ha usado para todo tipo de fraudes.Según una nota de El Pitazo, los timadores contactan a potenciales víctimas por WhatsApp y les ofrecen cajas de alimentos del sistema de ayuda alimentaria del gobierno, los Comités Locales de Abastecimiento y Producción (CLAP). Los paquetes se ofrecen a un precio inferior al mercado, de 50 bolívares (unos US$10), aunque se supone que son ayudas para los venezolanos en condición de pobreza. Texto Completo -> InSightCrime

The persecution against Alex Saab, alleged financial operator of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, led two years ago to the dismantling in Mexico of a network of trafficking in overpriced and poor quality food. However, almost immediately, another network emerged involving shell companies, former Chavista officials accused of corruption and intermediaries operating in tax havens, also linked to the Maduro regime. The following is the story of an unknown plot surrounding the shipment of food supplies to Venezuela. Full Text -> TheYucatanTimes

Traducción de cortesía -> La persecución contra Alex Saab, presunto operador financiero del presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro, llevó hace dos años al desmantelamiento en México de una red de tráfico de alimentos sobrevalorados y de mala calidad. Sin embargo, casi de inmediato surgió otra red que involucra a empresas fantasmas, exfuncionarios chavistas acusados de corrupción e intermediarios que operan en paraísos fiscales, también vinculados al régimen de Maduro. La siguiente es la historia de un complot desconocido en torno al envío de víveres a Venezuela.

Three Colombians and two Venezuelans are accused of bribing Venezuelan officials to win inflated contracts to provide products to the government-run food and medicine distribution program, known as Clap, from 2015 to 2020, the Justice Department said in a statement. By Ezra Fieser and Fabiola Zerpa. Full Text -> Bloomberg News

Traducción de cortesía -> Tres colombianos y dos venezolanos están acusados de sobornar a funcionarios venezolanos para obtener contratos inflados para proporcionar productos al programa de distribución de alimentos y medicamentos administrado por el gobierno, conocido como Clap, de 2015 a 2020, dijo el Departamento de Justicia en un comunicado.

In 2020, barely 38% of all Venezuelan households reported receiving the box from the government’s CLAP food program on a monthly basis. Many believe that the missing boxes are proof that interests in alleviating hunger answer to political motivations and clientelism, as Arcangel, a middle-aged man who lives in La Vega, Caracas, points out: “It really is political… you need to be a true revolutionary if you want to be helped.” By Mikhael G. Iglesias L. Full Text -> CaracasChronicles

This assessment seeks to answer questions about how social programs run by Venezuela’s Chavista regime became a perfect mechanism for building a widespread international corruption network to benefit the president and his cronies. It examines the pivotal role played by foreign powers—i.e., Iran, and Turkey—in these clandestine illegal operations. By Magdalena Defort. Full Text-> SmallWarJournal

A public records investigation using Sayari Search uncovered six companies in Lebanon with names similar to known intermediaries of the Venezuelan government’s subsidized food program (CLAP). By Written by Bjorn Kjelstad. Full Text -> Sayari