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Titan Of Venezuela's 'Boli-Bourgeoisie' Indicted In Miami For Laundering Regime Cash

Miami Herald
Venezuelan mogul Raul Gorrín (right) with Vice President Mike Pence in Miami last year."

They’re called enchufados — Venezuelans “plugged in” to the country’s corrupt socialist regime who bring allegedly dirty wealth here to Florida. The U.S. has just indicted one of the wealthiest alleged enchufados — who may now lose his Coral Gables mansion among numerous other assets.

Few Venezuelan businessmen have ingratiated themselves with the Bolivarian Revolution more shrewdly than Raúl Gorrín. His biggest prize came five years ago when the socialist regime let him buy one of Venezuela’s largest TV networks, Globovisión,  which had been an opposition voice.

People who get rich off the revolution are also commonly known as the “Boli-Bourgeoisie.” And like a lot of them, Gorrín brought his riches to South Florida, where he hoped to expand Globovisión’s operations. He purchased an $8 million Coral Gables mansion, too.

In doing so, he also brought the attention of the Trump administration — which is aiming to cripple the finances of the dictatorial Venezuelan government. According to human rights groups, the regime has wrecked the country's once oil-rich economy and killed scores of protesters.

This week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami indicted Gorrín under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly paying tens of millions in bribes to Venezuelan officials and then helping them launder that money.

Among the assets fingered for seizure in the indictment are Gorrín’s pricey Coral Gables digs. Gorrín is just the latest Venezuelan to be indicted in South Florida in cases like these.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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