Last Thursday, July 20, Naviera Paraguaná, whose owner is Roberto Leyba, sentimental partner of María Gabriela Chávez, daughter of Hugo Chávez, began operations with a ferry from Margarita to La Guaira, for now only on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. . On Thursdays, at 10:00 am, the company operates from La Guaira to Margarita.
Naviera Paraguaná also travels from Guanta to Margarita, round trip, almost daily.
Their rates are expressed in dollars, but they indicate that they can be paid in bolivars, at the rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela, in force for the date of purchase of the ticket.
Itinerary #Julio2022 ???? pic.twitter.com/db4ekDvnkI
– Naviera Paraguana (@naviparaguana) July 3, 2022
Who is behind Naviera Paraguaná?
Naviera Paraguaná, CA, as it is called, is a company whose registration dates from January 21, 2014. It was registered in the First Mercantile Registry of the State of Falcón.
Roberto Antonio Leyba Morales, Venezuelan, domiciled in Maracaibo, who in his capacity as main administrator represented the civil society Leyba & Mavares SC, and Nelson Colmenarez Silva, Venezuelan, domiciled in Barquisimeto, representative of the commercial company Agrotrading Venezuela, CA, signed the registration certificate of Naviera Paraguaná, CA
“The corporate purpose of the company will be the provision of national and international tourist, aquatic, maritime, river and lake transport services; the exercise and exploitation of the national and international cargo dispatch business, both by air, water and land, separately and/or jointly, involving multimodal transport; and the exploitation of the business of general warehouses and deposits”, indicates the document.
“It may also import, export, acquire, lease and dispose of all kinds of movable or immovable property, necessary for the development of the activity, including within such object the investment and shareholding in all kinds of companies, whether industrial and commercial, especially the operation and commercial exploitation of own vessels, leased bareboat or under financial lease”, he adds.
Naviera Paraguaná’s capital stock was initially 5,000,000 bolívares.
The president, at the time of registration, was Pedro José Jiménez Rivas; his vice president, Jaime Andrés Ossa Arango; and Vicente Manuel Cabezas Marcano was authorized to act as curator.
Who is Roberto Leyba?
Roberto Leyba is a sentimental partner of María Gabriela Chávez, daughter of the late Hugo Chávez, according to the journalist Chaste Ocando in First Report.
Ocando also revealed that a Leyba account in the United States, created to cover personal expenses, was used by María Gabriela Chávez during the first years of her stay in New York.. The account, which once had several million dollars, was canceled “due to suspicions of money laundering as a result of corruption.”
Nelson Colmenarez, partner of Naviera Paraguaná, denounced that Leyba requested funds for 11.6 million dollars from the Foreign Trade Bank to purchase the Speed Runner II vessel, model BGV, which was later renamed Paraguaná I. The real cost of the boat was just over five million dollars. The extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on November 21, 2014 authorized the acquisition of the vessel.
Part of the funds that fed Leyba’s bank account in Miami, Ocando pointed out, came from this financial transaction, a factor that decisively influenced its closure.
Luisa Ortega Díaz, attorney general of the Republic at the time, ordered an investigation into this embezzlement, but no progress was made in the inquiries.