Maduro used illegal cash for Chavez campaign

A former political consultant has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of paying her $11 million in cash to cover the costs of the 2012 re-election campaign of the late Hugo Chavez, using money that she says was illegally provided by Brazilian companies. Monica Moura, a Brazilian who was running the Chavez campaign with her husband, made the accusation in plea bargain testimony that is part of Brazil’s probe into a huge bribery scheme at the state oil company Petrobras. She alleged most of the cash given to her by Maduro came from the big Brazilian construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez. More…