One week after a plane crash outside Caracas, Venezuela,an air of intrigue surrounds almost everything about the flight. The mystery includes the plane's ownership, pilot, and two passengers, who were all killed in the crash. One passenger was Jose Alfredo Anzola, a 34-year old founder of Smartmatic, a Venezuela-based election company whose American subsidiary counted one in every three votes in the 2004 Presidential election. The pilot of the plane was Mario Donadi Gafaro, a veteran drug pilot who was supposed to be in a Venezuelan prison serving a six-year sentence - but apparently has friends in high places.Donadi got his pilot license in the US from the Federal Aviation Administration, or F-A-A - even though he was a convicted felon in both the US and Venezuela.As for the ownership of the aircraft itself, the F-A-A claims that the owner was Aircraft Guaranty and Trust Company of Houston. Analysts point out that this company is one of a number of US airline companies accused of engaging in rendition flights for the Central Intelligence Agency.Connie Wood, a former senior FAA official who owns Aircraft Guaranty, has registered more than 600 airplanes, although the company itself is tiny.
- KBOO