The Spanish National Court rejected the appeal of Adrian Velasquez, former bodyguard of the former president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez, so that he would not be extradited to the United States, which claims him for an alleged crime of money laundering that he denies having committed.
(Read here: Spain gives the green light to extradition of ex-Chávez bodyguards to the US)
As it became known this Wednesday, the plenary session of the Criminal Chamber of the National Court dismissed the appeal filed by Velásquez against the order that gave the green light to his extradition, just a few weeks after it also approved the surrender of his wife , the former national treasurer of Venezuela Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén.
(Also: How the United States could become a tribunal against Chavismo)
The US Justice claims both for having allegedly favored the businessman Raúl Gorrín, owner of the Venezuelan channel Globovisión, in a plot to exchange foreign currency that earned him hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Spanish court recalls that these events would constitute in Spain a crime of money laundering committed within a criminal organization, among others, a requirement for extradition, and denies that Velásquez has provided elements “that allow it to affirm that the United States has a prison structure not very compatible with the respect due to human dignity “.
According to the extradition request of the Southern District Court of Florida, from 2008 to 2017 or around those dates, Gorrín and the couple participated in a corrupt ploy in relation to the foreign currency exchange carried out for the Venezuelan government.
Authorities suspect that Gorrín paid millions of dollars in bribes to secure the right to participate in foreign exchange transactions, which earned him hundreds of millions of dollars.
As of 2011, the letter continues, Gorrín offered, promised, authorized and paid bribes to the then treasurer, including through her husband, to influence her in order for the businessman to carry out foreign currency exchanges for the Venezuelan government .
The defendant argued that he was rooted in Spain and that this country is investigating him for having allegedly acquired a property in Madrid with funds received from Gorrín, but the magistrates did not take these arguments into account.
EFE
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