Venezuelan banker/oil guy owned the dead polo horses in Miami.

[Judi Lynn]

Lechuza Caracas owned by Venezuelan multimillionaire
By SONJA ISGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

By SONJA ISGER

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, April 20, 2009

The 21 horses that died this weekend were about to play in the 105th U.S. Open Polo Championship, a tournament which caps South Florida's winter polo season.

They were members of the Lechuza Caracas team which has been playing in the event annually since 1999

The team is owned by Victor Vargas, a Venezuelan multimillionaire who started playing polo when he was 24 years old, according to the North American Polo League.

According to the league website, Vargas has various banking and oil holding in the United sates, Venezuela, Panama and the Dominican Republic. The site reports that the man is also president of the Venezuelan Bank Association and director of the Latin American Banks Federation.

Vargas, who also plays on the team, was reported in tears as he held the dying horses Sunday afternoon.

Scott Swerdlin, a veterinarian on the scene and member of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, described Vargas as "a man in his 50s, going on 40.

"He's very enthusiastic about polo. He loves to play and hang out with the players. He gives great parties for the grooms and the players. They're all like his family."

Despite his outgoing nature, Vargas is a very private person, he said. "You'd be more likely to get an interview with Madonna than him."

Vargas, the son of a doctor and the first female Supreme Court justice in Venezuela, also has local ties. Last year, he bought a $68.5 million home from art collector George Lindemann.

The Lechuza team slated to take the field this weekend included Vargas, a one-goal rated player, as well as three others from Argentina:

Guillermo "Sapo" Casset, Jr. , an 8-goaler
Juan Martin Nero, a 10-goaler
Nicholas Espain, a 7-goaler

Players are rated annually by their peers on a scale of 2 to 10 goals. It's a handicap system that does not reflect how many goals a player is expected to make in a match, but is meant to indicate his or her value to the team. Few players rise above a 3-goal rating. The match that was to be played Sunday was a high-goal match, with elite players in the polo world.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/04/20/0420lechuzateam.html

http://www.diariolacalle.net.nyud.net:8090/imagenes_noticias/victor%20vargas%20irausquin.jpg

Victor Vargas



Victor's Palm Beach house

$70 Millones pagó Víctor Vargas por mansión en Palm Beach
http://www.noticias24.com/gente/noticia/3107/la-nueva-mansion-de-victor-vargas-en-palm-beach/

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Whoever Killed Those Horses Should Be Prosecuted

Whoever killed those horses should be prosecuted, whether it was an agent working for Victor Vargas, an agent for a Venezuelan opposition group shaking down Vargas for a contribution for the cause, an agent for Hugo Chavez, or some freelancing independent anarchist or 'fellow traveler' trying to strike a blow 'for the peasants and the workers.' I have ZERO sympathy for the horse-killers, regardless of motive.

[EFerrari]

2. It sounds like tainted stuff more than sabotage.

What a horrible story. :(

[Mika]

3. Just shows how dirty the game of Polo can get.

Like many of the people who play it.

In the sport of Ice Dancing the opponents pay thugs to break players knees, in Polo they pay thugs to kill the team horses. :(

[Vogon_Glory]

4. And Storks Deliver Little Babies And Leave Them Under Cabbages, Too, Eh?

I find the claims about thuggish polo team owners sabotaging each others' horses to be a similarly low-quality fable, the sort that insults the intelligence of the listener as well as undermines the reputation of the story-teller.
I find it all too likely that somebody killed those horses on purpose. If it was one of Vargas' agents doing it, some right-wing opposition group shaking down Vargas for a contribution, an agent working under the direction of the Venezuelan government, or some self-motivated addle-brained jerk killing the horses out of 'solidarity for the peasants and workers of Venezuela,' I hope that the local authorities find the scumball(s), prosecute them, and hand them long and consecutive prison sentences. I don't give a rat's rump about their ideological bent, political, or monetary motives--jail 'em.

[Mika]

5. I guess a tongue-in-cheek response is beneath you.

Maybe I should have used the sarcasm smiley for you.

[Mika]

6. 3 vials of samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis missing from Maryland Army facility

Army: 3 vials of virus samples missing from Maryland facility
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3844828


:tinfoilhat: