FEB 2 RUSSIAN JET FLIES GOLD TO VENEZUELA

FEB 2  RUSSIAN JET FLIES GOLD TO VENEZUELA

It's early dawn when the Nordwind Airlines 757 departs Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. The small charter airline normally just flies wealthy Russians to Mediterranean and Thai resorts, but this morning's flight has a different destination: Dubai. Also odd was the absence of passengers on board. Instead of tourists, the cargo on this plane was 20 tons of solid gold bricks. You're asking yourself: Is this the Duner Blog or the plot of some bad Matt Damon spy movie?

Sorry...this really all happened on Tuesday morning. See, the gold belongs to disgraced and immoral Venezuelan "President" Nicolas Maduro. He is currently clinging to power by insisting recent election results were NOT rigged. Polls show that 90% of Venezuelans want him ousted. Either way, everyone agrees that life has deteriorated under his disastrous six-year term as "President." Although Maduro denies embezzling...for some reason...he has a couple of billion dollars worth of gold bullion stored in the Russian National Bank.

So what do Venezuelan "presidents" do when they fear the end is nearing? They cash out, that's what. Nicolas called Vlad Putin and arranged for a hasty withdraw. That's when Nordwind Airlines got involved. Numerous shiny black vans arrived on the Moscow tarmac and the gold was flown off to shady financiers in Dubai. Here it was laundered into either US Dollars or Euros, (depending on the source). After a fueling stop in Morocco, the flight finally landed in Caracas on Wednesday. Here more shiny black vans arrived to took the cash to the Maduro Mansion.

While this all does make for an entertaining beginning for a Bond movie, the reality of the incident is actually quite disturbing. Putin and Maduro are showing some serious shade here. Both refer to their governments as socialist,  but this event clearly shows they are not interested in the main component in socialism: Representing the people. Maduro may still be clinging to his presidency, but this quick liquidation of assets shows he is planning for the worst.

Let's just hope that opposition leader Juan Guaido...who thankfully has Trump's support...is able to gain power and change matters. On paper, Venezuela should be a smashing success as a nation. It's a petroleum-blessed tropical paradise. Yet it continues to be trapped in a wicked web of rule by strongmen like Maduro and Hugo Chavez. They portray themselves as Socialist idealists like Fidel Castro or Che Guevara, but...in reality...they are embezzling on the side. And shame on you too, Vlad Putin, for bailing this dude out!