Granko Arteaga, the man with a thousand faces and businesses who controls the fearsome Special Affairs Unit of the Venezuelan Military Intelligence Service

Alexander Enrique Granko Arteaga is Lieutenant Colonel of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and serves as Chief of the Special Affairs Unit (DAE) of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim); he is the real power in that body, where terrible torture has occurred. He, along with Brigadier General Rafael Antonio Franco Quintero, began the darkest stage of torture, persecution and threat against the military and civilians, some political prisoners, others whom the revolution considered traitors and activated corruption files.

Graduated from the Officers Training School (Efofac), fourth place in the II Promotion “Battle of the Honey” 2003, he was promoted, on June 29, 2016, resolution 014717 to Major in the Effective Command category and in 2020 he was promoted from number one to Lieutenant Colonel. Among intelligence officials it is considered a merit that he executed the pilot Oscar Pérez and a group of young people who had already surrendered in the so-called El Junquito Massacre.

Granko is the powerful man of the DGCIM, although he has senior military superiors such as colonels, generals and the Major General and Chief of the Dgcim, Ivan Hernández Dala. It is not only the one that has made possible the creation of numerous files that the Directorate of Investigations raises against military and civilians arrested, tortured, violated in their human rights, but also influences the administration of justice when altering dates or squaring witnesses.

It is exhibited in activities on high displacement motorcycles, bicycles, with weapons in exercises, but Granko also has an attraction for properties, expensive vehicles, businesses related to scrap metal and everything that is profitable in the ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello.

Since the structure of power and torture was installed with Granko and Franco in the DGCIM, the DGCIM officials also had to give up rewards to gain loyalty from officials willing to do anything for profit; that is how they participate in the spoils of war, as they call stolen belongings, be they currency, gold garments including expensive fantasy, weapons, cell phones, branded clothing and shoes, computers, electrical devices, and even vehicles; that loot is sold on the black market and the profits are shared among the participants and star witnesses that the DGCIM uses in its reports.

But Granko's loot is higher; they are houses, estates, herds, planes, luxury vehicles. An example of this was what happened on August 14, 2020 when DGIM officials, headed by Captain Ibis Ramírez, saying that he was following Granko Arteaga's orders, raided the fifth Los Gnomos in the El Caribe Urbanization, Club Yacht Street, Caraballeda, La Guaira.

This beautiful house, built by César Capriles in 1968, was inherited by his granddaughter Isabel González Capriles, the legitimate owner who had rented it to the couple with three children who were evicted by Dgcim. There was no search warrant, no court order, only the whim of Granko who wanted the house, which has an attractive small port or private jetty with access to the sea.

As in other cases and properties, the Dgcim knows that Isabel González, who is the daughter of Mitzi Capriles and wife of former Minister Andrés Izarra, does not dare to come to the country to claim the house without the risk of being imprisoned, so they snatched her property, without the right to defense, violated the locks, covered the surveillance cameras and were left with the furniture of Los Gnomes.

The fifth

Since the house was raided by the Dgcim, it has become one of the properties that Granko uses with people of personal interest, as is the case with Paola Dávila, a model, who posts photos of the interior of the fifth on her social networks, using the property, furniture, crockery and everything in the house of Isabel Gonzalez.

At first, many Dgcim officials and vehicles arrived in that charming shelter, broke locks and stayed there for several days, but since they evicted the family with the children, they only use it for the most enjoyment of Paola and the other model that comes sporadically with the Tcnel Granko.”

Davila, who does not know what work he does, recently opened a swimwear boutique in the Las Mercedes urbanization in Caracas. Many of her photographs on social networks show her inside the house, even with close family members or on yachts on the pier of the house taken from Isabel González.

Something similar has happened with other properties such as haciendas or farms. If the Dgcim detains a landowner, rancher, businessman or merchant, almost always the victim must pay a large sum of money or assign property in exchange, which becomes part of the war spoils that are distributed in the torture structure that arises in the Dgcim.

Abuse of power

Recently, engineer Elías Rangel Macho Hernández, Regional Director General of the Orinoco Strip attached to the Ministry of Petroleum and former director of the Office of the Ministry of Labor, reported that on March 18, 2022, in Calabozo, Guárico state, the disappearance of Ángel Javier Navas Figueroa, attached to the office of that population, belonging to the headquarters of the Pascua Valley Zone.

He reported that Navas observed the receipt of two fuel tanks at the Puente Aldao Service Station, Calabozo, and therefore proceeded to verify the invoices for dispatch from the Plant. The administrator of the establishment informed him that the first cistern (9,804 liters of diesel) is for normal dispatch to users and that “the other fuel tank (37,025 liters of diesel) is exclusively for Commander Granko, belonging to DGCIM”.

Observing the irregularity, Navas contacted Henry González, advisor to PDVSA Mercado Nacional (PDVSA MENA) with jurisdiction in the area, who informed him that “this was an instruction issued by the Director General of PDVSA MENA, Marino Lugo, to ES Puente Aldao, without knowing whether it was for any individual or for the normal office public”, and instructed him to call Jhonny Fernández, Service Station Manager PDVSA MENA Central District.

“Ángel Navas gives necessary alerts to the Head of Zone Pascua Valley and this in turn to the Director Region Faja. Minpetroleo (Calabozo Technical Office) then urges the concessionaire to distribute this fuel as established by the norm and the latter refuses because it claims to have instructions that this fuel is for Granko.”

Faced with this situation, “the official Angel Navas is instructed from the Headquarters to open the administrative procedure for said I/O, which was closed on Sunday. The next day Navas inspects the gas station, but “at 11:30 AM he receives notification from DGCIM Calabozo to go and testify to San Juan de Los Morros at 2 PM for an unspecified investigation process. The official notified that he would not be able to attend that day because of the untimely summons, the lack of logistics of mobilization and stated that he would attend the next day.”

The trap and impeachment

At the end of the afternoon, Navas receives a call from the I/O stating that “Caracas had authorized him to ship the diesel to the public and that he required his presence to carry out such activity”; he replied that it was preferable to do so early on Tuesday to ensure that users access the service.

That night Macho Hernández recounts, “a DGCIM commission is arbitrarily and aggressively present at the house of Angel Navas, who was not at his home; the grantee's invitation to report to I/O seemed like an excuse to arrest Navas.”

On the morning of Tuesday, March 22, the Head of Zone tried unsuccessfully to contact Navas. “The dealer is contacted who informs that late Monday night a DGCIM commission cordoned off the I/O and together with the dealer they dispatched diesel apparently 6000 liters more and that in the DGCIM van they had our official Ángel Navas.”

The Zone Headquarters and the Regional Directorate are trying to find out if Navas was in the Dgcim of San Juan de Los Morros or in Caracas; they called National Prosecutor 55, Ramón Torres, who handles cases of trafficking and diversion of fuels by the Public Ministry within the framework of Operation Mano de Hierro.

In the message that Macho Hernández sent at that time to his colleagues, Directors and other members of Minpetroleo, he asked to join “in a campaign of solidarity with comrade Ángel Navas and also review the role that Minpetroleum Domestic Market and MENA PDVSA should play in eradicating the vices about mismanagement in the distribution of fuels and thus contribute to Operation Mano de Hierro and even more so to transparency and guarantees that this public service is provided effectively, efficiently and truly reaches the people.”

The pressure eventually led to Nava's release, but engineer Macho Hernández was removed from his position as Regional Director General of the MinPetroleum Orinoco Belt, while Angel Javier Navas Figueroa was pressured to resign.

All this shows Granko Arteaga's abuse of power and the trafficking of influence from his position in the Special Affairs Directorate of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence.

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