Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said yesterday that the United States and Colombia “will regret” if they were to act against a dozen government officials, whom the North American nation accused, along with Chavista itself, of alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism.
“Within our borders, and I say this, because Bolivarians say what we are going to do, and outside our borders, if you touch a single leader of our country a hair, you will regret it for the rest of your life” , assured the chavista.
“I say this to the Bogota oligarchy, to the Colombian oligarchy, and I also say it to US imperialism: do not continue to underestimate us, see that we can go further than you think,” said the Venezuelan leader.
The president’s reaction comes after the retired Venezuelan general, Cliver Alcalá, surrendered to the United States on Friday from Colombia, guarded by agents of the Administration for Drug Control (DEA).
“The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation learned that Mr. Cliver Alcalá Cordones turned himself in to the United States authorities. At the time of his delivery, there was no arrest warrant or request for extradition purposes,” the Colombian government said in a statement.
With his delivery, Alcalá Cordones became the first defendant of the 15 designated on Tuesday by Washington to pass into US custody. The government of that country offered a reward of 10 million dollars for his capture.
However, to this recent movement will be added the handover of former military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal who, according to various international sources, is discussing his possible capture with the US authorities.
Hugo Carvajal is in Spain, but the exact whereabouts of the retired general and ally of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez are unknown.
US officials have long sought Carvajal, believing that if he is willing to cooperate, he could provide valuable information on the allegations against Maduro and his collaborators.
The Donald Trump government accused Maduro, Alcalá, Carvajal and more than a dozen top Venezuelan officials of drug trafficking last Thursday, in the latest escalation in a pressure campaign by the White House aimed at removing the Venezuelan leader from power.
US Attorney General William Barr announced the charges against Maduro, who is already facing sanctions from the Trump government, as part of a set of measures to pressure his departure from power.
Carvajal has repeatedly denied accusations of aiding cocaine trafficking to the United States.
Since leaving Venezuela, Carvajal denounced Maduro and offered his support to opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
The retired military fugitive in Spain was arrested by the Spanish police in April 2019 at the request of the United States authorities, but the highest court in the European country initially ruled that he should be released and denied his extradition request.
Separately, Maduro also announced yesterday that in the last 24 hours, six new cases of covid-19 were detected in the country, as the number of those infected rose to 119.
However, the president defended the measures taken by his government to contain the infections and criticized his American and Brazilian counterparts, Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, respectively, whom he pointed out for not doing enough against the coronavirus.
ASK US TO CESS LOCK
The Puebla Group urged the countries of the world to demand that the United States end unilateral blockades against Cuba and Venezuela, “which in the context of the covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy that we must avoid.”
According to the alliance, made up of various international leaders, “these blockades have violated the rights of the inhabitants of these countries for decades, condemning them to live without access to medicines or material goods.”
“We ask everyone to demand an end to this permanent violation of the human rights of Cubans and Venezuelans, and that we support the positions of the UN Secretary General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the group of senators from the United States. United States that advocate the end of the blockades, “the group said in a statement.
PLUS
PIONYANG PERFORMS MILITARY TRIALS
North Korea launched two short-range missiles into waters east of the country early Tuesday morning, official South Korean and Japanese sources reported, in the fourth ballistic test this month and so far this year. These launches coincide with a stalemate in the negotiations between the US and the Pyongyang regime to achieve the denuclearization of the Asian nation.
– .
