In a news release, Bizta contradicts itself by saying on the one hand that it is buying out the regime’s shares, and on the other hand that it is merely repaying a government loan. The government representative on the Bizta board will depart once the payment is complete, according to the statement. “Bizta buys out FONCREI share,” the news release says in the main heading, with the subhead saying, ”Venezuelan state investment fund to be repaid in full.”
The shares and board position, the company claims, were not Venezuelan government ownership stakes but “collateral.”
The Venezuelan government’s Industrial Credit Fund (FONCREI) investment, Bizta says, was actually a “capital loan” that was due on or before June 10, 2008.
Source:
1.www.carlanga.com/evoto/docs/Biztapressrelease
1. Given Smartmatic’s new wealth from the Venezuelan government for the 2004 Chavez recall vote, is it reasonable to presume that this announcement was made in preparation of the company’s expansion into the electoral market of the United States?
2. What is the significance of the timing of this notice, and the contardictory statement that Bizta either bought back Venezuelan government ownership or paid back a loan four years before it was due?
3. Could the timing have anything to do with exposure from the US Embassy and the Miami Herald?
4. Does the Bizta statement satisfy any questions about whether company simply repaid a small “loan” by receiving back its shares and and a board seat that it says had been put up as collateral?
5. Does it appear in the Bizta statement that Bizta engaged in a “buy back” of stock four years early in order to avoid questions about Venezuelan regime ownership and control as it entered the American market?
6. Given Smartmatic’s new wealth after its payment for services to the Venezuelan government, and Smartmatic CEO Mugica’s stake in Bizta, could this announcement be preparation for Smartmatic’s expansion into the United States?
7. Was Smartmatic planning to do in American elections what it did in Venezuelan elections?
8. Are the company and its shareholders, and Smartmatic trying to mask the government’s obvious role of power over Bizta’s decisions?
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