A scandal of giant proportions is brewing in Nicaragua; of the $250m transferred for a petroleum refinery, only $1m can be accounted for. To add to the mystery, the funding source was Petroleos de Venezuela, (PdVSA), the Venezuelan government-owned petroleum agency, which sent the money to a joint governmental venture, Alba de Nicaragua SA (Albanisa), to build what was to be the largest refinery in Central America. Was this actually a well-executed money laundering operation, with the planned recipients being cash-poor politicians from the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) who are up for re-election? That's what many Nicaraguans are saying, and this time, they maybe be right on the money. The funds are likely to be covert illegal campaign contributions, just like those previously injected into election campaigns in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and even Colombia, by corrupt Venezuelan elements.

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