The former head of Venezuelan Intelligence with Chávez, summoned on October 27 in court for the financing of the party, can delay his delivery to the United States by presenting two appeals, before the Interior and the Criminal Chamber, for not having an answer to his asylum petition
The National Court has agreed this Wednesday to make effective the delivery of the former head of Venezuelan Intelligence during the Chávez government to the United States. General Hugo Carvajal, alias ‘El Pollo’, is accused of crimes of arms and drug trafficking and his extradition has been delayed due to his escape for about two years.
Before the decision of the Criminal Chamber becomes effective, however, the imprisoned former head of Venezuelan Intelligence has presented this Wednesday two appeals to try to stop his extradition to the United States, one before the Ministry of the Interior, to fight his asylum, and another in the National Court, where he alleges that since his asylum request still does not have a definitive answer, it cannot be sent to Washington.
According to legal sources consulted by Europa Press, Carvajal has filed an appeal for review before the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska for the numerous errors that he considers to be contained in a recent resolution where the Ministry of the Interior confirms his initial decision to deny him the asylum he requested in 2019. He then filed an appeal in the National Court against the ruling issued this Wednesday by the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber in which the magistrates order to reactivate the extradition agreed in 2020 and make effective its delivery to the US authorities .
In any case, the former head of Venezuelan Intelligence may also appeal to the Constitutional Court for violation of fundamental rights.
This horizon, therefore, will allow ‘El Pollo’ to testify on October 27 before the court of the National High Court for the alleged financing of the Venezuelan Government to former senior officials of Podemos or the foundation that was the germ of the formation, in 2008. The Chavista general has provided documentation and Judge Manuel García Castellón has reopened a case filed in 2016 on this matter, whose origin was the PISA police report (Pablo Iglesias Sociedad Anónima), reviled by the Supreme Court for its lack of legality .
Regarding the delivery of ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal, the Chamber chaired by magistrate Alfonso Guevara has given part of the resolution to the Interpol central office in Spain for referral to their North American colleagues. In parallel, the Ministry of Justice will communicate the decision to the US authorities, which will be responsible for the transfer of the accused from Madrid. The maximum delivery time is usually around one month.
The trump card of the Supreme
On the other hand, Carvajal is also waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on October 26 on the appeal he filed in 2020 against the government’s decision to extradite him to Washington. At the time, he alleged that, if placed at the disposal of the United States, he would be subjected to “torture” to “obtain information on the prevailing regime in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” And this, he continued, because the White House believes “wrongly” that he was part of the “close environment” of Chávez and Maduro.
In this courthouse, ‘El Pollo’ also tried to paralyze his extradition by requesting very precautionary measures that were denied, so the fact that this appeal has not yet been resolved does not prevent it from being sent to Washington.
After being detained, Carvajal voluntarily offered to testify before Judge García-Castellón for preliminary proceedings that had been opened in that court on international terrorism, in the context of what he later described as a “collaborative process” with the Spanish Justice. He appeared on September 20 and spoke for more than an hour about various matters on which he gave enough information, despite which he promised to provide documentary support to his words.
The former head of Military Counterintelligence with the Chávez and Maduro governments is persecuted for events that occurred between 1999 and 2019, when he would have belonged to the so-called ‘Cartel of the Suns’, a criminal organization supposedly run by ‘Chavista’ charges that, with the alleged collaboration of the FARC and other armed groups would have introduced large quantities of drugs into the United States.
.