Former Venezuelan minister for petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, in custody following corruption charges. Photo: File photo.
The Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab, has reported that Venezuela’s former minister for petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, was proven to be “negotiating with far-right politicians through Samark LĂłpez to overthrow the constitutional government of Venezuela, and that he was acting against the state,” as evidenced in a series of confessional recordings from Samark LĂłpez. Saab also reported more information regarding the former minister’s links with sectors of the Venezuelan far-right and the US government as well.
According to the announcement from the head of the Public Ministry, delivered this Thursday, May 2, “Aissami himself has acknowledged that he knew everything that Samark did, because he was too close to Samark, he was the political operator of that ring in their conspiracy against the Venezuelan state, against the legitimately constituted government of President NicolĂĄs Maduro.”
When recounting the first confessions that Samark LĂłpez made public on Monday, April 29, Saab recalled that LĂłpez, together with far-right Venezuelan politicians Julio Borges and Carlos Ocariz, talk about establishing a direct communication channel with El Aissami to build things up.
Tarek William Saab: En estos audios queda claro que El Aissami estĂĄ negociando con estos opositores a travĂŠs de Samark LĂłpez, para derrocar al gobierno constitucional, y que estaba actuando a espaldas del Estado
— Ministerio PĂşblico venezolano (@MinpublicoVEN) May 2, 2024
He said that in the recordings presented on Monday, it is clearly heard that Samark takes note of the proposals made by these opposition politicians, and that these go “beyond the electoral.” He added that in one of them, you could hear how Borges speaks on behalf of James Story, the US diplomat who appointed himself ambassador of the United States in Venezuela from BogotĂĄ, who was sent to say that Samark must “do tangible things and not just talk.”
In the released audio conversation between El Aissami’s former right-hand man Samark and the coup leader Julio Borges, the latter transmits a message from James Story to Samark in which he tells him “we need Samark or the people around Samark to be able to do concrete things, such as we would call disruptive, truly shocking things,” and that “Political prisoners can be released, escape. We need the people who are imprisoned there from CITGO to be released, we need them to help us, for example, to have information,” and Samark confirmed that he had been told me a number of similar things along those linnes.
In the conversation between Samark LĂłpez, Carlos Vecchio, and Leopoldo LĂłpez, it was discussed how the right-wingers would ask El Aissami to move forward with conspiratorial plans drawn up. “I would say, Sammy [Samark], let’s move forward with the plan we had drawn up and see how as a result of that conversation we can obtain the necessary proof of his support,” said Vecchio to Samark. “To the extent that we present the specific issue, it will allow me to counteract the other trend that has been sown, that someone has sown, and that we have to combat.”
Leopoldo LĂłpez, the promoter of the guarimbas of 2014 and 2017, is heard to be interested in knowing the opinion of Samark LĂłpez in the conspiratorial plans they were drawing up in relation to El Aissami. “Maybe this is a more interesting time to raise what we had talked about a week ago,” said the protĂŠgĂŠ of the Yankee government. “I would like to hear your understanding, the conversations you have had. I believe that this may even be a more interesting moment to be able to move forward, but I will leave it here as a part of this long first step.”
(Diario VEA) by Yuleidys HernĂĄndez Toledo with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
