HAVE NEW AMERICAN SANCTIONS FRIGHTENED VENEZUELAN PEPS ?

This week's Executive Order, sanctioning seven senior Venezuelan government officials, military commanders, and secret police leaders, seems to have caused a large number of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) to start looking for the door, lest they be the last ones to cooperate, when American indictments are unsealed. Those that are not already set up in Panama, or the Dominican Republic, may be thinking of becoming Cooperating Individuals, in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution in the United States.

Rumors abound, in Palm Beach, that the prominent Venezuelan banker, Victor Vargas, has been talking to certain parties there, about subjects that might make his country's most senior officials nervous. The names of other Venezuelan PEPs who are quietly considering an exit strategy have come up, but I have no wish to jeopardize any active investigations; let  justice take its course.