Venezuelan investigative journalist Roberto Deniz has uncovered widespread corruption in his home country’s government.

In 2016, Venezuela was experiencing a severe economic crisis. The decline in oil prices had led to a federal deficit, and Venezuelans were grappling with hyperinflation and food shortages. In response, President Nicolás Maduro’s government announced a program called CLAP —Comités Locales de Abastecimiento y Producción—, which delivered food boxes to low-income families. That same year, Roberto began investigating complaints that the food in the CLAP boxes were of extremely poor quality.

Read the episode transcript here. 

As Roberto and his colleagues at the Venezuelan independent news site Armando.info investigated the program, they uncovered a corruption scheme that involved Colombian businessman Alex Saab at its center. Roberto published his findings, and was met with a lawsuit from Saab himself.

Roberto left Venezuela out of fear of more retaliation in 2018 and moved to Colombia.

Then, in 2020 the story Roberto and his colleagues uncovered took an unexpected turn when Saab was detained in Cabo Verde and later extradited to the United States. Saab faced accusations of diverting $350 million from Venezuela through the U.S. financial system. His arrest in the U.S. brought more details to light about his dealings and close connections to Maduro.

In December 2023, as Roberto was getting ready to cover the trial, President Joe Biden and President Nicolás Maduro agreed to a prisoner swap. The U.S. exchanged Saab for 10 U.S. citizens who had been imprisoned in Venezuela. One condition of this swap was that Venezuela would hold free elections.

On July 28th, Venezuelans will head to the polls to elect a president. The vote has significant implications for Venezuela’s future political and economic stability. But as the elections approach, President Maduro’s commitment to a fair process is under scrutiny, especially after opposition frontrunner María Corina Machado was blocked from running.

In May, Roberto’s work was featured in a Frontline PBS documentary, titled Dangerous Assignment: Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela.

In this episode of Latino USA, Roberto sits down with co-executive producer Peniley Ramírez to discuss his investigation, the role the U.S. had in this corruption scandal, and the political landscape in Venezuela leading up to this crucial vote.

Featured image courtesy of FRONTLINE (PBS)/Armando.info. 

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Lowenthal Torres and edited by Andrea López-Cruzado. It was mixed by J.J. Querubin. 

Special thanks to Frontline and the team behind their documentary, “A Dangerous Assignment, Uncovering Corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela.”