The attorney general of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, who is linked to the Nicolás Maduro regime, ordered this Wednesday (6) the arrest of 13 members of the opposition to the Chavista regime for the crimes of “conspiracy” and “treason against the country”. . Among those accused are members of the Vamos Venezuela party, run by presidential candidate María Corina Machado, who was not indicted. Two US citizens were also involved, allegedly linked to the oil company Exxon Mobil.
Saab issued arrest orders for opponents this Wednesday under the allegation that they had received funding from “international organizations and foreign companies” to “destabilize” the referendum process on the annexation of Essequibo, a region of Guyana that is being disputed. currently in Venezuela, held last Sunday (3). On Monday (4), opponents said that Maduro’s referendum had a low turnout.
Among those accused are Henry Alviarez, Claudia Macero and Pedro Urruchurtu, from Corina Machado’s party, Vamos Venezuela; the president of an opposition party called Súmate, Roberto Abdul; the opponents who are in exile: Yon Goicoechea, Juan Guaidó, Julio Borges, David Smolansky, Carlos Vecchio, Lester Toledo and Leopoldo López; and former dissident Chavista ministers Andrés Izarra and Rafael Ramírez.
Saab said that the accused will be prosecuted for the crimes of “treason against the country”, “conspiracy with a foreign power”, “legitimation of capital and association to commit crime”. He also reported on the arrest of the American citizen, identified as Savoi Jandon Wright, for his alleged involvement in the “conspiracy”. According to Saab, Wright used cryptocurrency and “large amounts of cash” to “evade financial controls and mask the origin and destination of funds used to conspire.”
The American’s family members had already reported that he has been irregularly detained in Venezuela since October.
The other North American involved “in the conspiratorial plot”, according to Saab, is Damian Merlo, a former telecommunications businessman and former foreign policy advisor linked to former President of the United States Donald Trump (2017-2021) and President from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
Saab stated that Guyana, ExxonMobil and the US “work as a team to dispossess Venezuela” of territory that “historically and legally belongs to it.”
The national leadership of the Vamos Venezuela party, led by María Corina Machado, rejected the accusations against its members and said that they were an “attempt to intimidate and demobilize the opposition”, which represents “an electoral threat to Chavismo”. Machado, who has a growing popularity in the polls, is prevented from holding popularly elected positions due to a disqualification imposed by the Maduro regime.
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