As was easily predictable, all of the propaganda organizations that cover Moldova have been screaming and shouting about how the world is going to come to an end on February 24 (election day).

Here is just a tiny snippet of that, where a pro-EU Moldovan and a Hungarian describe the only faction that Westerners support like this:

…the pro-EU opposition “NOW” (or ACUM), a coalition led by former minister of education Maia Sandu and protest leader Andrei Năstase.

What a joke. Nastase is an oligarch with millions of dollars and six houses scattered around the globe. Victor Topa (perhaps Moldova’s richest oligarch) is literally Nastase’s godfather, for chrissakes.

Mercury Rising

Anyway, Western freakout about the elections is nothing new. But it’s because of this totally crazy shit that I am writing my article today:

Two opposition leaders on Thursday accused Moldovan authorities of poisoning them, drawing a rapid denial from the ruling party, just days before a parliamentary election.

Maia Sandu and Andrei Nastase, who have joined forces to campaign against the ruling Democratic Party ahead of Sunday’s vote and accuse its leadership of rampant corruption, said doctors had discovered heavy metals in their blood.

“The authorities want our deaths,” Nastase added.

Oh my lord, this has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. And in a million years, I never thought I’d be defending Plahotniuc (the oligarch who runs the Democratic Party), but I guess these are the times we live in.

First of all, this reminds me of the utterly bizarre case of Viktor Yuschchenko, who in 2004 became ill and then later claimed that he had been poisoned by shadowy government agents. Even in 2004, it was a bonkers story. He “miraculously” survived and is doing just fine today.

But let’s get back to Nastase and Sandu. Is it possible that government agents are poisoning them? And what is the proof?

Let’s Go to the Videotape

If you speak Romanian, you can watch the Sandu-Nastase joint press conference here, which they also published on their party’s Facebook page.

The English-speaking press isn’t properly covering this story (shocker), so here’s my translation:

“We discovered that we have elevated levels of heavy metals in our blood, and this was discovered in both mine and Mr. Nastase’s blood. We had it treated. The blood levels went down, but after a bit, they went back up again.

The doctors whom we spoke with said this could not be a naturally occurring phenomenon. Previously, we had some suspicions, but now we’re taking it quite seriously,” said Maia Sandu.

All right.

“Miss Sandu is speaking more judiciously than I will. I will tell all of you that I am completely certain about one thing – we were targeted by the government, and they want us dead.

They can’t do like they do in Russia and shoot us, but you can be sure something like that will happen if we all don’t get rid of them [the government].

They have tried to kill us with heavy metals. And I will even specify which one. It’s mercury. That’s how they’re trying to get rid of me, Miss Sandu, Mr. Machedon, and others colleagues of ours.

What it all boils down to is that I and Miss Sandu are the victims of an attack. How this poisoning happened, we don’t know yet. But specialist (doctors) told us that this could not be a naturally occurring phenomenon,” said Andrei Nastase.

Whew boy, that’s a lot to digest.

So, Sandu said she’s been poisoned (at least) twice by “heavy metals” and Nastase is saying that he, Sandu, a guy named Mr. Machedon, and “other colleagues” (presumably party members) were also poisoned.

No idea why Sandu was hesitant to say “mercury” and instead vaguely referred to “heavy metals” (mercury, for the record, is a heavy metal).

Evidence

Clearly, Sandu, Nastase, and at least two other people have all had their blood levels checked. But why would they do that?

Here are the symptoms of mercury poisoning:

• Anxiety
• Irritability or mood changes
• Numbness
• Memory problems
• Depression
• Physical tremors
• Muscle weakness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Metallic taste in the mouth
• Clumsiness

Furthermore, these symptoms tend to develop slowly over time if a person has been repeatedly dosed with mercury.

So, which of these symptoms did Sandu et al have? We don’t know. But except for things like muscle weakness and a metallic taste in the mouth, there’s really not a good reason why doctors would check for heavy metals in the blood. Normally, for things like anxiety, depression, or memory problems, other tests are conducted.

Therefore, let’s just imagine that Sandu, Nastase, et al were feeling weak or something else extreme, and that’s why the doctors decided to do the blood tests. Okay.

Then, the doctors found mercury. What comes next?

The most common cause of mercury poisoning is from eating seafood, but people can get mercury poisoning from industrial processing, thermometers, and blood pressure machines, dental work, and old paints.

Nastase is a rich oligarch, and Sandu doesn’t have a job (she somehow lived on just $500 last year while traveling the globe). Clearly, they didn’t encounter a broken thermometer, old paint, a blood pressure machine, or all get the same dental work.

Occam’s razor says they got elevated mercury levels from eating seafood. And I can tell you that Moldovans eat a lot of seafood, especially fish. I have no idea what Nastase, Sandu, et al have been eating, but it’s likely that seafood was part of that.

Sandu, remember, said she then “got treatment” which is usually in the form of chelation therapy. That’s a fancy way to say that consumed a substance (there are several different ones) that binds with mercury and then flushes it out of the body.

Keep in mind that these chelating agents are serious drugs that can easily kill you:

Approved chelating drugs in the U.S. include succimer, dimercaprol (BAL), edetate calcium disodium, deferoxamine, and penicillamine. They are given only for diagnosed metal toxicity because they may have serious side effects, even when their use is needed.

Well, here’s good old Nastase just two days ago meeting the IRI (another one of the propaganda outlets funded by the US):

He looks fine to me. Sandu has looked fine, too, in all of her campaign appearances. Remember, these two are on TV just about every day as the vote is next Sunday.

Did they take these chelating drugs? Did they suffer any serious side effects? Well, we just don’t know.

According to Sandu, she got tested, the doctors found the high levels of mercury, they treated her (somehow), and then her mercury levels went down. But then she got tested again (we don’t know why), and the mercury levels were up again.

Putting All the Pieces Together

Let’s just assume for a moment that Sandu is right, that agents of Plahotniuc are trying to kill her and Nastase by poisoning them with mercury. How, exactly, would that happen?

Did they slip it in their food or drinks? And if so, how? Mercury can’t be “dosed” through the air. The only way it can hurt you is if it gets ingested. And mercury has a strong metallic taste, which is going to be pretty evident if it’s in your food or drink.

Note: You can turn mercury into a vapor (which is also poisonous), but it seems fantastically unlikely that anyone could create a mercury vapor cloud without anyone finding out about it.

Did Plahotniuc’s agents secretly inject mercury into them with a syringe? Because that’s the only other option. And I find it next to impossible to believe that at least four people were injected at least twice (so, eight times altogether) by secret syringes.

And it’s only slightly less far-fetched to say that evildoers poisoned their food multiple times without anyone knowing about it.

And while there are plenty of practical reasons to kill Sandu and Nastase, why did the poisoners also target Mr. Machedon “and other colleagues”?

I don’t even know who “Mr. Machedon” is. There’s a Machedon who owns a big cable and internet company in Moldova, but he isn’t a member of their political faction. And the “other colleagues” haven’t even been named. Who would benefit if Machedon and these other people died?

It doesn’t make sense.

It also makes no sense that doctors say “there’s no way this could happen naturally” when they don’t know how it happened in the first place. Maybe the mercury’s been building up for years (due to heavy fish consumption). Maybe they all licked a broken thermometer together. I don’t know. But what I do know is that mercury poisoning is a pretty weird way to try to kill someone.

First of all, it’s really hard to manipulate. Mercury is like a funky liquid that is next to impossible to get in large amounts (a thermometer has less than half a gram). You’d have to buy (and break) a lot of thermometers or raid a chemical factory to get enough mercury to dose (at least) four people (at least) two different times.

Secondly, how would you even administer the poison? Dosing someone’s food or drink once is tough, but (at least) twice is almost impossible. These two are on the road almost every single day. You’d have to know where they’re going to eat, get ready to poison their food in advance, and then do it (at least) one more time.

Third, when did Sandu and Nastase et al first discover they had elevated levels of mercury in their blood? It wasn’t today, that’s for sure. So why didn’t they mention this before? Why not make these accusations earlier in a more timely fashion?

It seems especially odd that this is coming literally two days before the election campaign season comes to a close (remember, Nastase fucked that up in 2018).

Frankly

Frankly, this whole thing smells like a really shitty version of the Yuschenko affair of 2005. Monstrous allegations were made right before an election in order to garner sympathy and to cast the opposition in a bad light, and long after, when it’s discovered that nothing happened, it’s too late.

Plahotniuc is, without a doubt, a shady guy who has been involved in a lot of stuff. But mercury is rarely fatal except in extremely high doses. It seems like a really curious weapon. And it’s very unclear why his minions would also target people like “Mr. Machedon” and other unnamed colleagues in, what would be, in effect, a “mass poisoning.”

Considering that Sandu has also made other very wild allegations (like President Dodon is a traitor who wants to start a civil war), she has very little credibility.

And last but not least, mercury poisoning does occur due to eating seafood, an explanation that is very likely. The ACUM folks all sitting around, pigging out on fish and shrimp is very believable. I’ve seen my own in-laws do it many times. So why the doctors are so sure that Sandu and Nastase et al’s poisoning isn’t related to seafood is confusing.

UPDATE: Nastase et all released more information that makes the situation even less clear, including the fact that Machedon first detected high levels of mercury in his blood three years ago.

So, that’s where we’re at.

Oh wait, I forgot one more thing from the US Embassy in Moldova:

National parliamentary elections are scheduled for Sunday, February 24. As in the past, large public demonstrations are likely to occur after the elections. Even peaceful demonstrations can turn dangerous at any time.

What the …. there is no danger of demonstrations “turning dangerous,” especially not to Americans.

Clearly, “The West” has collectively lost their minds over the upcoming Moldovan elections.