Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 28 January 2020
Ally of Venezuela's Maduro hires DC lobbyist to build ties

By JOSHUA GOODMAN who spoke on the condi-
MIAMI (AP) — An ally of tion of anonymity because
Venezuelan President they weren't authorized to
Nicolás Maduro has hired a discuss the meeting.
Washington lobbyist whose Stryk did not immediately
business has boomed un- return a phone call request-
der the Trump administra- ing comment.
tion as part of a $12.5 mil- Foley and Venezuelan
lion effort to ease sanctions Communications Minister
and reset bilateral relations Jorge Rodriguez both de-
as the U.S.-backed cam- clined to comment.
paign to oust the socialist The U.S. was the first of
leader stalls. nearly 60 nations to recog-
The Maduro government's nize Guaidó as Venezuela's
top lawyer, Inspector Gen- rightful leader after he used
eral Reinaldo Muñoz, hired his position as the head of
lobbyist Robert Stryk's So- congress to proclaim him-
noran Policy Group as part self interim president follow-
of a larger contract he ing Maduro's widely reject-
signed with Foley & Lard- ed 2018 reelection.
ner, a law firm with offices The U.S. has long insisted
in Washington. that any negotiations with
Both the law firm and Stryk's Maduro would be focused
Sonoran Policy Group reg- on the terms of his exit and
istered as agents of Muñoz last year rejected talks
in separate filings with the sponsored by Norway with
Justice Department that the opposition as a waste
were published Monday on of time that would only
the agency's website. strengthen Maduro's hand.
Their work includes "de- But this month Secretary
veloping a strategy to ap- of State Mike Pompeo
proach the U.S. Govern- seemed less hostile to the
ment in support of delist- idea of talks, saying that a
ing the Foreign Principal or negotiated settlement was
other parties subject to U.S. the best way forward.
economic sanctions due to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gives his annual address to the nation before members of Muñoz is one of only a
their connections to the Re- the Constituent Assembly on the grounds of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tues- handful of top Maduro
public," according to the day, Jan. 14, 2020. aides who so far hasn't
filing by Foley, which in turn Associated Press been sanctioned by the
is paying $2 million to hire Trump administration for
Stryk as a consultant. tions and European Union dos Santos, Africa's richest in unpaid debt owed to human rights abuses and
The outreach comes as U.S. to send observers for leg- woman, who is fighting al- American bondholders by corruption.
support for opposition lead- islative elections slated to legations that she accumu- Venezuela. A spokesman Guaidó left Venezuela a
er Juan Guaidó, whom it take place later this year. lated vast wealth through for Greylock said Stryk was little over a week ago for
recognizes as Venezuela's Stryk, a winemaker and for- state loans brokered by never hired. only the second time since
rightful president, has come mer Republican aide who her father, Angola's former This month, Stryk's name being elected the head
under fire. unsuccessfully ran for may- president. showed up in handwrit- of congress to embark on
A year into the U.S.-backed or of Yountville, California, Muñoz's contract with Fol- ten notes released by the a support-building tour
campaign to oust Maduro, is one of the top lobbyists in ey, for a flat fee of $12.5 House Intelligence Com- of Europe and Canada.
the socialist leader has suc- Trump's Washington. million, extends until May mittee as part of the im- It started with a meeting
cessfully beaten back a A former unpaid Trump 10. Stryk's share of the deal, peachment inquiry into with Pompeo in Bogota,
coup attempt, mass pro- campaign adviser on the as a consultant, is $2 million. Trump. the Colombian capital. He
tests and punishing U.S. West Coast, his firm, So- Foley said in its filing that Lev Parnas, a former asso- missed Trump by a day at
sanctions that have cut off noran Policy Group, had it received slightly more ciate of Rudolph Giuliani the World Economic Forum
his government's access to no reported lobbying from than $3 million in initial pay- in Ukraine who has now in Davos, Switzerland, fuel-
western banks. 2013 to 2016 but has billed ments on behalf of Muñoz turned against Trump's ing speculation that the
Emboldened by Guaidó's more than $10.5 million to from what appear to be personal attorney, wrote a U.S. president wasn't inter-
difficulties, Maduro is look- foreign clients since the two Hong Kong-registered note to himself on statio- ested in a meeting with the
ing to reassert himself and start of 2017. companies. Its work will also nery from the Ritz-Carlton 36-year-old lawmaker.
repair his tarnished image Like Venezuela, many of include discussions with of- hotel in Vienna saying "hire "If Trump does not meet
in Washington, where he's the clients have bruised ficials at the U.S. Treasury Robert Stryk lobbiest" (sic), with him in Washington, it
been roundly rejected as a reputations in Washington Department and other U.S. the documents show. It's will be a clear indication
dictator. or are under U.S. sanctions, agencies regarding sanc- unclear why Parnas scrib- that the U.S. government
This month, he told the such as the governments of tions against the Maduro bled Stryk's name. But one has lost faith in the idea that
Washington Post that he Somalia, the Democratic government. of Guiliani's clients, Ven- maximum pressure will lead
wants to engage directly Republic of Congo and In December, Stryk's firm ezuelan businessman Ale- to a transition," said David
with the Trump administra- Saudi Arabia's Ministry of also filed paperwork with jandro Betancourt, hosted Smilde of the Washington
tion to end a stalemate Interior, which signed a a Congress saying it rep- Trump's personal attorney Office on Latin America
that has worsened living $5.4 million contract in May resents Greylock Capital and Parnas at his castle think tank. "Even if they do
conditions in the OPEC na- 2017. Management, a Wall Street outside Madrid last sum- meet, it seems clear that
tion of 30 million people. He He also represents the hedge fund, to assist it with mer, according to two peo- the Trump administration is
also invited the United Na- scandal-plagued Isabel the collection of millions ple familiar with the matter open to alternatives"q