Meet the Venezuelan rebel whose crime is publishing exchange rates

Benjamin” never intended to run a pirate website. But every time the South Florida resident sits down at his computer to publish information about exchange rates in his native Venezuela, he has to carefully cover his tracks so no one can trace his IP address. That’s because publishing the black-market exchange rate in Venezuela is illegal and considered an act of subversion by the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro. “They’re accusing us of waging an economic war against the country,” said Benjamin, who asked me not to use his real name to avoid retaliation against his family in Venezuela. “If they knew who we were, they could threaten my parents, my uncles, my cousins, my family in Venezuela. It’s a delicate issue because when you’re dealing with a government that makes up conspiracy theories and weird stories, you don’t know what they’re capable of.” More…