Venezuelan authorities have opened a new criminal investigation against self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaido for his role in the “humanitarian aid”.
Article continues below
Attorney General Tarek William Saab named Guaido as the accused “mastermind” behind the crimes, arguing that the opposition leader “personally directed the corruption mafia.”
The investigation will focus on accusations of money laundering, corruption, and criminal association, and will be led by two public prosecutors.
Despite the alleged crimes being committed in Colombia, Saab assured that the investigation “corresponds to our jurisdiction” as the funds were assigned from Venezuela. His office is due to request the sharing of evidence and further cooperation from their Colombian counterparts.
The latest scandal unfolded in the aftermath of the events of February 23, when Guaido and the opposition unsuccessfully attempted to force humanitarian “aid” into Venezuela on the Colombo-Venezuelan border crossing.
A report from Miami-based news outlet Panampost was published last Friday, accusing Guaido’s representatives in Cucuta, fellow Popular Will party members Rossana Barrera and Kevin Rojas, of fraud and corruption worth more than US $100,000.
Barrera and Rojas, who were tasked with looking after the soldiers who heeded Guaido’s call to desert, are alleged to have falsified hotel and restaurant payments, as well as inflating the number of soldiers under their responsibility. Guaido has recently called for a thorough investigation into the corruption scandal, despite the Panampost report alleging he had been made aware of it over a month ago.
This is the latest in a series of judicial investigations concerning the activities of the Venezuelan opposition. Guaido is himself the subject of two ongoing investigations for charges including corruption, treason, fraud, and money laundering, having seen his parliamentary immunity lifted in April. ■
A hyperactive weather pattern will bring an expansive low pressure system across mainland U.S., resulting in widespread impactful weather to progress from west to east across the country through the next few days.