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Article snippet: CARACAS, Venezuela — Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant that ran a vast bribery scheme in the Americas, made campaign contributions to numerous Venezuelan candidates, including Diosdado Cabello, one of the country’s most powerful politicians, according to a video released on Saturday by Venezuela’s ousted attorney general. The video, showing an excerpt from a deposition by the former head of Odebrecht’s Venezuelan operations, widened allegations of the firm’s involvement in Venezuelan politics. The former attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who fled the country in August, posted an earlier video, on Thursday, in which the same Odebrecht executive, Euzenando Prazeres de Azevedo, testified that the company had paid President Nicolás Maduro at least $35 million in bribes in 2013 linked to campaign promises. Since her ouster by Mr. Maduro, Ms. Ortega has been releasing evidence of alleged corruption in Venezuela’s government. The latest video, published on Ms. Ortega’s blog, came on the eve of gubernatorial elections in Venezuela and seemed timed to influence the vote. In the video, Mr. Azevedo said that from 2004 to 2013, Odebrecht became extensively involved not only in federal elections but also in municipal and state contests. Venezuelan law forbids foreign companies from contributing to Venezuelan political campaigns “We were always looking to contribute to these campaigns, and we contributed to many of them, specifically in those states and the municipali... Link to the full article to read more