TalCual: Miguel Rodríguez Torres, Where Art Thou? Latin American Herald Tribune November 17, 2014
President Nicolás Maduro claimed that Miguel Rodríguez Torres, Venezuela's former Interior and Justice Minister, would have an important and strategic job in 15 days from the announcement of his dismissal on October 24. That period of time has already passed and nothing is known so far. This leaves two options: either it was a white or strategic lie. Or that Gen. Rodríguez Torres refused to accept an offer who knows what it was about – maybe an assignment at the Venezuelan embassy in Kenya to find out if Colombia's Álvaro Uribe was deeply involved in the murder of the ambassador there, Olga Fonseca Giménez, in 2012 (so far a cold case, by the way.)
All we know is that Rodríguez Torres has disappeared from the map in the style of the best magicians. Which is especially noticeable since it is a well-known fact that the former minister passionately loves appearing in the media. He never missed a chance to make statements several times a day despite being little telegenic, no matter if these were about the theft of two gallons of vegetable oil and a watermelon from a grocery store.
Incidentally, some people have said that this kind of behavior may be owed to presidential aspirations of his own and, hence, the main reason for his dismissal. But it's only a rumor. What is certain is that we don't know the whereabouts of the so-called "man of the quadrants." Plus the unknown reason the Government might have had to get rid of him the way it did, because he was well-rooted there, kissed ass like a true champion and used to make up good stories on presidential assassination attempts, invasions from the U.S., among other hard-to-believe stuff. Was it because of the mounting pressures from the paramilitary groups that clashed with the scientific police (Cicpc) last month? It's a matter that seems way too complicated to understand, but until we get another more plausible explanation we will have to settle with what we know. However, just for mere curiosity, we would at least like to know where this man finds himself resting from his past busy life today.
We don't know much either if there was a connection with the murder cases of Robert Serra, a lawmaker of the ruling party PSUV, and his assistant María Herrera. The simultaneity of the events is making readers of black novels or those of the immortal Sherlock Holmes eager to learn more. But what is becoming increasingly more complicated is the murder case of the PSUV lawmaker. First of all, because after having practically arrested all the suspects it has not been possible for the Government to find a small connection with Colombian paramilitaries, despite this not being very fond of orthodox interrogation methods, as demonstrated at a UN meeting very recently. But the icing on the cake was put by the Colombian ambassador, who stated that one of the suspects nicknamed "El Colombia" is not Colombian at all, that there is no connection with paramilitaries of the neighboring country, and much less with former President Uribe, and that everything looks like a horrendous crime committed by the escorts of Serra, Venezuela's latest martyr. This is no coincidence because beyond the diplomatic indiscretion, what he is saying is that Maduro and his people are a bunch of liars who came up with an unbelievable explanation in just a matter of a few hours.
The bottom line is we know nothing about such scandalous events that are so much of our concern. It would be very interesting indeed if Rodríguez Torres finished his well-deserved vacation now and told us his side of the story.
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