Was Sistema orchestra used for Maduro's smuggling? – Slippedisc

Comment of the Day from Sam McElroy, who is well informed on Venezuelan matters.Sam added his comment to our assessment of Gustavo Dudamel’s present dilemma. Sam writes:

Now that Caracas is falling, an unconfirmed but credible, firsthand report is emerging of a charter plane (in recent times) carrying Venezuelan musicians of the regime-owned Simón Bolívar Orchestra to Istanbul, being diverted to Tehran to allegedly offload contraband. Possibly Venezuelan gold – which is known to fund Hezbollah. The musicians were reportedly offloaded from the rear of the plane and escorted by Venezuelan and Iranian officials through an unofficial channel – to avoid passport stamps – with instructions to go “nowhere near the front of the aircraft.” They later continued their journey to Istanbul. Sworn to secrecy by Venezuelan officials, this account has originated from a musician who was on the plane but is protecting his/her identity for now.

It’s one of several similar anecdotes involving the unscheduled diversions of chartered planes. No doubt, the propaganda relationship between the Maduro regime and western classical music will be forensically investigated in due course. Were the musicians themselves unwitting mules in the transportation of illicit gold or drugs? After all, VP Delcy Rodriguez and the now indicted son of Maduro, Nicolásito, both sit on the board of El Sistema. The latter played in the orchestras, and they both own illegal gold mines.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article313527079.html
It was Delcy, you may recall, who introduced the SBO and Mr. Dudamel to the UN Security Council in 2016, at the height of the regime’s human rights abuses.
https://media.un.org/photo/en/asset/oun7/oun7184316

It’s just a matter of time until the truth and scale of corruption is revealed. And western classical music organisations are certain to be implicated by their continued, multi-million dollar business association with a known, criminal state structure. They can’t say they were not warned, and the mitigation of naivety just won’t cut it.