US claims ‘secret
talks’ to topple
Maduro regime
in Venezuela
Give evidence on Epstein,
lawyer challenges Duke
By Hannah Strange
A SENIOR Trump administration offi-
cial has claimed that Washington has
been in secret talks with Diosdado Ca-
bello, the second-in-command in the
Venezuelan regime and the man re-
garded by many as the true power be-
hind Nicolás Maduro, the president.
A second meeting is planned after a
US intermediary in Caracas met Mr Ca-
bello in July, the official told the Associ-
ated Press, as an attempt to penetrate
Mr Maduro’s inner circle and foment
the collapse of his government from
within.
The official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, said the US would not
facilitate Mr Cabello remaining in
power or replacing Mr Maduro but
hoped that those close to Hugo
Chávez’s appointed successor might be
persuaded to betray him if they were
guaranteed immunity from prosecu-
tion for alleged abuses and crimes.
That goal had appeared close to
being achieved in April, when Juan
Guaidó – the opposition leader recog-
nised by the US and dozens of other
countries as Venezuela’s rightful presi-
dent – launched an uprising supported
by military defectors.
In the ensuing chaos, John Bolton,
the US national security adviser, pub-
licly identified three key Maduro allies
- General Vladimir Padrino López, the
defence minister, and the heads of the
supreme court and presidential guard - as having conspired with the opposi-
tion against the far-Left leader.
He urged them to act quickly, saying
it was their “last chance” to have sanc-
tions against them removed by bring-
ing the rest of the military behind Mr
Guaidó. But Mr Bolton spoke too soon,
and Mr Maduro’s generals rallied
around him, crushing the rebellion in a
bloody crackdown. Gen Padrino said
the attempt to “buy” him was a “deceit-
ful, stupid offer”.
Manuel Cristopher Figuera, chief of
the intelligence agency SEBIN, fled the
country, later surfacing in the US with
an account of how Gen Padrino and co-
conspirators had lost their nerve. He
was replaced with a former intelligence
chief close to Mr Cabello – an appoint-
ment widely interpreted as a sign that
the latter’s influence was expanding as
Mr Maduro’s waned.
The support of Mr Cabello, the
56-year-old power broker alleged to
have controlling fingers in rackets
from drug-trafficking to illegal mining
and to direct pro-government paramil-
itary groups, is now regarded by many
as key to Mr Maduro’s survival as presi-
dent.
Mr Cabello, vice-president of the
ruling PSUV and head of the constitu-
ent assembly installed to bypass the
opposition-controlled parliament, is
considered more radical, ruthless and
calculating than Mr Maduro himself.
US officials have accused him of dis-
cussing an assassination plot against
Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who
described Mr Cabello as the “Pablo Es-
cobar” of Venezuela.
Last week, Mr Rubio said he had “no
doubt” Mr Cabello had always wanted
to be president and would oust Mr Ma-
duro if he gained control of the regime’s
apparatus.
Mr Cabello has not commented on
the reported talks but did retweet a
post mocking the idea that the US
would expose its own “secret plan”.By Hayley DixonTHE Duke of York should tell “every-
thing he knows” under oath, a lawyer
for some of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged
victims has said.
Brad Edwards, whose clients include
Epstein’s alleged “sex slave” Virginia
Roberts Giuffre, said he wanted to hear
sworn testimony from the Duke.
He said: “I look forward to ... a for-
mal deposition where he will be given
the opportunity to tell us everything he
knows. We would like to do this as soon
as possible, at his convenience.”
The challenge came as it was claimed
that the Duke had insisted on being
“loyal” when advised to dump Epstein
after his conviction for sex offences.
The Duke, 59, issued a statement on
Sunday saying he was “appalled by the
recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s al-
leged crimes”.
It added: “His Royal Highness de-
plores the exploitation of any human
being and the suggestion he would
condone, participate in or encourage
any such behaviour is abhorrent.”
The unusual decision to issue a state-ment led to questions over why the
Duke visited Epstein at his Manhattan
mansion in 2010, two years after the
financier had admitted having sex with
an underage girl and was linked to the
molestation of 36 others.
A video of his stay emerged over the
weekend.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman
said last night: “The Duke has said that
this was an error of judgment.”
When pictures emerged at the time
of the 2010 trip showing the Duke, then
a UK trade envoy, walking with Epstein
in Central Park, royal aides were said to
be tearing their hair out. He quit his
role as trade envoy the year after.
In 2011, a friend of the Duke’s told
Vanity Fair: “After Jeffrey was con-
victed, I phoned Andrew and told him:
‘You cannot have a relationship with
Jeffrey. You can’t do these things.’”
The friend said the call turned into a
screaming match, adding: “Finally An-
drew said: ‘Jeffrey’s my friend. Being
loyal to your friends is a virtue. I’m
going to be loyal to him.’”
The friend claimed that the Duke has
a “stubborn streak” and will “ignorethe truth” about someone if he likes
them. When asked about the remarks
attributed to the Duke, Buckingham
Palace said it did not comment on al-
leged comments made by members of
the Royal family.
Ms Giuffre alleged in court papers in
Florida that she was forced to have sex
with the Duke when she was 17, which
is under the age of consent in the state.
She alleged she had sex with him
“three times, including one orgy” in
London, at Epstein’s New York home,
and at an “orgy” on his private island in
the Caribbean.
But Buckingham Palace has branded
Ms Giuffre’s allegations “false and
without any foundation”, adding: “Any
suggestion of impropriety with under-
age minors” by the Duke was “categori-
cally untrue”.
Ms Giuffre’s allegations were later
struck from the court record.
In releasing the court papers, the
Federal Appeals Court in New York
noted that materials submitted to a
court should not be understood as firm
findings or ‘some sort of marker of reli-
ability’.Tourists face
jail for ‘theft’
of sand from
Sardinia beach
By Nick Squires in RomeA PAIR of tourists face up to six years in
prison after allegedly stealing a large
quantity of sand from the pristine
beaches of Sardinia.
The French couple were found to
have nearly 40kg (90lb) of fine white
sand in the boot of their car.
The vehicle was stopped during a
routine check by border police as the
tourists were preparing to board a ferry
in Porto Torres, on the north coast of
the island, bound for Toulon in France.
The sand was found in 14 large plas-
tic bottles and had been taken from a
beach near Chia in southern Sardinia.
The couple told police that they had
no idea they were breaking the law, but
they now face between one and six
years in jail.
The Italian island has battled for
years to stop tourists from stealing its
sand, shells and pebbles, which are
prized as souvenirs or in some cases,
for indoor aquariums.
In an attempt to stop the pillaging,
some locals have taken on the role of
self-appointed guardians of the
beaches.
If they see tourists taking sand or
shells, they ask them to return the ma-
terial. If that does not work, they call
the police or national park rangers.
One of them, Pina Careddu, told an
Italian newspaper on Monday that visi-
tors sometimes become rude and ag-
gressive when challenged.
“A family of Germans were filling up
some bottles with sand. I recorded
them on my phone so they couldn’t
deny it. The father came towards me in
a threatening manner. But in the end,
he tipped the sand back onto the
beach,” Mrs Careddu, 58, told Corriere
della Sera.
Dubbed “the granny sheriff ” of the
Sinis peninsula, on the west coast of
the island, Mrs Careddu is strict even
with her grandchildren.
“They say, ‘Nana, can’t we take some
pebbles home to play with?’ And I say,
‘No, if everyone did that, soon there
would be no beach left,’” she said.Golden shot A rare strawberry-coloured leopard feasts on a giraffe at the Thaba Tholo
Wilderness Reserve in South Africa. The picture, the first of such a leopard eating, was
taken by Belfast-born reserve owner Alan Watson, 45, using a motion-triggered camera.BLACK LEOPARD MOUNTAIN LODGE/SWNSAlaskan returns Soviet sailor’s note in bottle
By Our Foreign StaffA MAN was shocked to discover a
50-year-old letter in a bottle from the
Russian Navy while collecting fire-
wood on the shores of western Alaska.
Tyler Ivanoff found the handwritten
Russian letter early this month near
Shishmaref, about 600 miles north-
west of Anchorage, television station
KTUU reported. “I was just looking for
firewood ... When I found the bottle, I
had to use a screwdriver to get the mes-
sage out,” Mr Ivanoff said. “I had to pullreally hard,” he told The Nome Nugget
newspaper. “It was still dry on the in-
side and still smelt like wine or what-
ever, old alcohol. The note was dry.”
Mr Ivanoff shared his discovery on
Facebook where Russian speakers
translated the message, and found it to
be a greeting from a Cold War Russian
sailor dated June 20, 1969.
It read: “Sincere greetings! From the
Russian Far East Fleet mother ship
VRXF Sulak. I greet you who finds the
bottle and request that you respond to
the address Vladivostok 43 BRXF Sulakto the whole crew. We wish you good
health and long years of life and happy
sailing.”
Reporters from Russia-1, the state
-owned media network, tracked down
the writer, Capt Anatolii Prokofievich
Botsanenko, KTUU reported. He was
sceptical that he wrote the note until he
saw his signature on the bottom. “There- exactly!” he exclaimed. The message
was sent while the then 36-year-old was
aboard the Sulak.
Editorial Comment: Page 15The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 20 August 2019 *** 13
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