........comes around.

Chavez is castigating what he does best,paybacks and bribes with a dose of bullieism and intimidation an a dash of chavism.

This is a cocktail for disaster because if he doesn't win the new referendum ,he could end up like Kauffmann in the article that follows, trough is own devices.

The Associated Press December 8, 2008

MIAMI: A Venezuelan businessman who testified at his ex-partner's trial about rampant corruption in President Hugo Chavez's government was handed a light prison sentence Monday for his role in the cover-up of a political cash suitcase scandal.

Carlos Kauffmann, 36, was sentenced to 15 months by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard. But Kauffman, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and spent months cooperating with the FBI, could be free early next year because he has already been jailed for nearly a year.

Prosecutors said Kauffmann provided key assistance to the U.S. investigation, placing himself and family members at risk of retaliation and losing business interests in Venezuela that have made him wealthy.

Kauffmann testified that he and co-defendant Franklin Duran — who went to trial and was convicted — had paid bribes and kickbacks to Venezuelan government officials in exchange for lucrative business deals for a decade. The testimony helped prosecutors counter Duran's claims that he was an honest businessman who was set up by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Mulvihill called Kauffmann's testimony "extremely significant to the United States."

Kauffmann, a dual Venezuelan-German citizen who has a home in Miami, apologized for his role in the cover-up. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to act an illegal Venezuelan agent in the U.S., which carries a maximum five-year prisons sentence.

"The United States was my family's second home," Kauffmann told Lenard. "I intended no harm to this country."

Kauffmann was partners with Duran at the Venoco petroleum products company, which also had a consultant named Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson.

Kauffmann and Duran were asked by the Chavez government to take part in a cover-up after Antonini was implicated in an attempt to smuggle $800,000 in Venezuelan cash to the 2007 campaign of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez.

Kauffmann testified he and Duran readily agreed to keep the corrupt business deals going and obtain more of them. The goal of the cover-up was to keep Antonini quiet and concoct a fake paper trail for the money. But Antonini, a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen who lived on Key Biscayne, was secretly cooperating with the FBI and wore recording devices to their meetings in South Florida.

Since he agreed to cooperate, Kauffmann has seen his assets in Venezuela frozen, some family members forced to leave the country and his own government label him as a traitor. Kauffmann would face arrest and possibly torture if he returned to Venezuela, leading U.S. officials to promise as part of his plea deal not to deport him there.

"Now he's the hunted one for doing that," Kauffmann attorney Jack Denaro said.

It remains possible that Kauffmann could be deported to Germany or another country once his U.S. prison term ends. Denaro said he fears that could lead to Kauffmann's extradition back to Venezuela, where he is considered a political enemy.

Duran, who was the main player in the case, faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in January. A Venezuelan lawyer who also took part in the cover-up was sentenced to two years behind bars last week. A Uruguayan who played a small role as a driver and lookout at one key meeting will be sentenced next week.