Key Maduro ally linked to illegal campaign gifts

CARACAS, Venezuela — Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant that ran a vast bribery scheme in the Americas, made campaign contributions to numerous Venezuelan candidates, including Diosdado Cabello, one of the country’s most powerful politicians, according to a video released Saturday by Venezuela’s ousted attorney general.

The video, showing an excerpt from a deposition by the former head of Odebrecht’s Venezuelan operations, widened allegations of the firm’s involvement in Venezuelan politics.

The former attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who fled the country in August, posted an earlier video, on Thursday, in which the same Odebrecht executive, Euzenando Prazeres de Azevedo, testified the company had paid President Nicolás Maduro at least $35 million in bribes in 2013 linked to campaign promises.

Since her ouster by Maduro, Ortega has been releasing evidence of alleged corruption in Venezuela’s government. The latest video, published on Ortega’s blog, came on the eve of gubernatorial elections in Venezuela and seemed timed to influence the vote.

In the video, Azevedo said that from 2004 to 2013, Odebrecht became extensively involved in federal elections and municipal and state contests.

Venezuelan law forbids foreign companies from contributing to Venezuelan political campaigns

Local and regional governments, he said, could ease red tape for the firm in ways big and small, including issuing environmental permits or closing streets.

Azevedo said the company contributed to Cabello’s unsuccessful campaign for governor of Miranda state in 2008. Cabello is now a top official of the nation’s governing party and is among Maduro’s closest allies.