The Criminal Chamber of the National Hearing of Spain refused on Thursday (21) the postponement of the extradition to the United States of Hugo Armando Carvajal, known as Pollo Carvajal, former head of counter-espionage in Venezuela in the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
The court had ruled on Wednesday (20) that Carvajal should be extradited to the US, where he is accused of drug trafficking. Investigating Judge Manuel García-Castellón then told the National Hearing that he had called the Venezuelan general to testify on Oct. 27 in a recently reopened case that deals with alleged funding by the Venezuelan government of the Spanish left-wing party Podemos.
According to El País, the court, however, denied the postponement of Carvajal’s extradition and accused his defense of adopting a “dilatory strategy.” That way, the general is not expected to testify next week.
This week, the Ok Diario website revealed that the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence informed the Spanish court in a letter that the Chávez and Maduro governments made illegal payments to left-wing political parties in the European country and in Latin America, among them the former presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Argentina, Néstor Kirchner, and of Bolivia, Evo Morales. At the hearing on the 27th, Carvajal would provide more information about the alleged transfers to Podemos.
On Thursday, the website reported that the general added that Venezuela had sent US$21 million to finance Cristina Kirchner’s presidential campaign in Argentina in 2007.
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