E o Diretor-Geral desta Organização é o petista José
Graziano da Silva.
Formal Complaint to the
FAO on the behavior of the Caracas Representative
The FAO Caracas representative
is politicized: a formal complaint to FAO’s Headquarters
To: fao-hq@fao.org
CC: bkm@un.org
Dear Sirs:
On the basis of my best
understanding of the guidelines given by your organization to report misconduct
within its ranks I am formally introducing a complaint to the Office of the
Inspector General of FAO against the behavior of FAO’s Caracas representative,
Mr. Marcelo Resende [foto], which I consider grossly biased in favor of the
Venezuelan government in matters related to the critical Venezuelan food
situation and distribution. On the basis of this complaint I formally ask FAO
to conduct an investigation of its Caracas Office and the urgent application of
the corrections which might be pertinent.
1. These are the FAO Guidelines:
Please report to the Office of
the Inspector General (Investigations) (OIG/INV) any instance of suspected
fraud and corruption including:
· Unlawful acts related to FAO
activities (for example theft, fraud, embezzlement, solicitation/acceptance of
bribes or kickbacks, extortion);
· Misrepresentation, forgery,
or false certification in connection with any official business;
· Fraud committed to obtain
undue financial benefits or entitlements (e.g. fraudulent claims for rental
subsidy, education grant, travel, medical insurance);
· Fraud, favoritism,
disclosure of confidential bidding information, or misconduct related to
contract bids, performance of contract obligations or evaluation;
· Retaliation as defined under
the Whistleblower Protection Policy;
· Staff violations of the Standards
of Conduct for International Civil Servants;
· Complaints of workplace
harassment pursuant to the Policy on the Prevention of Harassment, Sexual
Harassment and Abuse of Authority.
Offenses that should not be
reported to this office include:
· Complaints arising from
working conditions or from an administrative measure or decision.
2. On the basis of these guidelines I claim that the Caracas
Representative has crossed the line, incurring in misrepresentation and
favoritism, representing the dismal Venezuelan government performance in food
policies in a grossly favorable light. This behavior demands an impartial and
immediate investigation, in order to preserve the reputation and credibility of
the organization. I believe the Office of the Inspector General is the one
ideally suited to deal with this issue, to judge by the description of its main
activity, as leader of “the Organization’s efforts to prevent and combat fraud…
as the Office mandate includes investigating alleged violations by personnel
and the activities by third parties”.
3. The essence of my complaint is as follows. I am a Venezuelan/
Ú.S. citizen, now living in Virginia, USA. I am not an expert in your field,
just an observer of the current Venezuelan reality in the food and agricultural
sector. As you probably know the availability of food and the situation of the
agricultural sector in Venezuela has become critical, to the point that the
Venezuelan National Assembly has declared a state of emergency to exist in
these areas. Due to the disastrous policies generated by the government that
has been in place for the last 17 years, Venezuela, in spite of the highest oil
income in history, has become a country where markets lack all essential
foodstuff and where the Venezuelan people have to stand in line for hours to
obtain the most meager food items, just barely enough for day to day
subsistence. The country depends heavily on food imports, largely controlled by
government agencies. This has generated significant corruption since tons of
food, grossly over-billed, have been imported already in rotten conditions and
have been found abandoned and hidden. These imports are mostly done through
mafias made up of government bureaucrats and its friends. The cases are
numerous and I am sure you will be able to find them in the Venezuelan and
international press, see just one
example:
In parallel with this tragic
situation your organization maintains, at least since 2013, a representative in
Venezuela, Mr. Marcelo Resende, who has become a prominent supporter of the
Venezuelan government policies related to food availability and distribution.
His laudatory comments have been abundant and defy the reality which is evident
to the eyes of anyone living in Venezuela today. Last year, in April 2015, he
publicly declared (my translation):
“Venezuela is an example of
good public policies to combat hunger, not only in our region but in the whole
world. FAO recognizes these efforts. He added: “Venezuela is one of the
countries with the largest public food distributing network: Mercal, Mercalito,
PDVAL, Bicentenario and FAO can see this and congratulates the Venezuelan
people. You can always count with FAO’s support”. And went on to say (abbreviated): “In name of the United Nations I want to
congratulate you. Here we have a vivid example of how communes and government
are winning food security and sovereignty”.
Coming at a time in which
Venezuelan suffer a tragic food crisis and when corruption in those governments
institutions mentioned by Mr. Resende are very well documented, these
expressions of support by FAO’s Caracas representative have been considered by
Venezuelans as extremely cynical. In
fact, PDVAL and Bicentenario bureaucrats have been found to be involved in
massive corruption,
see: http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/160130/presos-presidentes-de-abastos-bicentenario-y-cval-por-hechos-de-corrup
In those same days of 2015 the
Venezuelan government had transferred $12 million to the FAO’s Caracas office
to finance a program to “eradicate hunger”.
In the last few weeks, March
2016, Mr. Resende has, again, made extremely laudatory comments about the
Venezuelan food disaster. He has said, see:
http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20944 :
My translation: “I
congratulate the people and government of Venezuela for the existence of the
best public food distribution network and for structuring an active social
participation and organization [in this sector].
I have to presume that Mr.
Marcelo Resende has been co-opted by the Venezuelan regime to become one of its
most ardent supporters. His pro-government bias is not only unjustified but
cruel, in light of the Venezuelan reality. As a Venezuelan born citizen I
strongly protest against this unprofessional posture by the FAO Caracas office
representative.
I think this deserves an
investigation by FAO’s highest authorities since the name of the organization
is being invoked to support what is, in fact, a major tragedy.
4. I have sent the information listed above to you, in letters
dated March and May of this year and have received a polite reply three days
ago, to the effect that my complaint had been sent to the “relevant” office in
the organization, as it was outside the jurisdiction of the Inspector General’s
Office. This is the reason I am re-sending the complaint in a more formal
manner.
5. I am taking this step for my country of birth, Venezuela, asking
justice for its suffering citizens, but also in your own behalf since I believe
the credibility and the prestige of your organization is at stake.
6. I am at your service at my address:
Gustavo Coronel
8360 Greensboro Drive 710
McLean, Virginia 22102
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