A Venezuelan Red Cross worker wearing a vest with the emblem of the international organization. Photo: RedRadioVE.
Workers and volunteers from the Red Cross in Venezuela have confirmed the accusations made by the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, regarding the mafias that allegedly exist within the Venezuelan branch of this international organization.
Red Cross workers and volunteers accused Tito de la Hoz—a known accomplice of the organization’s current president—of threatening to fire them if they do not sign a letter in favor of the institution’s leader, Mario Villarroel, following allegations made by Cabello last Wednesday, July 26.
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According to the workers , Tito de la Hoz threatened to fire them or even attack them in coming days, if they did not ratify a statement in favor of Villarroel. This was being perpetrated with the aim of cleaning up Villarroel’s image, since the international official is detained for harassment and mistreatment in the workplace.
Venezuela’s Public Ministry opened an investigation in which hundreds of workers, ex-workers, and volunteers have condemned Mario Villarroel for mismanagement, nepotism, and abuse throughout the 43 years that he has been with the organization.
On July 28, Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced that a judicial investigation had been opened against Mario Villarroel, as well as certain members of his team, who were accused of being complicit in Villaroel’s crimes.
#AHORA @MinpublicoVEN #designa Fiscalia 34 Nacional de Derechos Humanos: para #investigar y #sancionar los hechos #denunciados recientemente sobre el presunto acoso y maltrato contra #voluntarios y #trabajadores de la Cruz Roja Venezolana: por parte de Mario Villarroel y miembros…
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) July 28, 2023
Villarroel has further allegedly used the Red Cross for purposes unrelated to the mission of the Swiss-based humanitarian organization. As such, the Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating—over a period of 11 months—a judicial network that places judges, lawyers, and justices in connection to this case.
Last Wednesday, July 26, during his television show Con el Mazo Dando, Diosdado Cabello read a series of accusations against Villarroel for irregularities in the Red Cross, and his alleged links with the aforementioned judicial mafia, according to accusations received from Red Cross workers.
“He has come to control magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), and he goes around the world to speak ill of the Bolivarian Revolution,” warned Cabello. “There are no statutes that he lives by, and he wants to leave his son in office, a person accused of domestic violence.”
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Cabello condemned the fact that Villarroel has been in office for more than 40 years without elections or any type of renewal of authoritative status within the ranks of the Red Cross, also mentioning that he received a complaint about a man from whom the lawyer of Mario Villarroel apparently took $9 million in bribes, in the same vein of corruption.
Cabello emphasized that the issue of the Red Cross is a matter of state, since they must comply with Venezuela’s Constitution and laws, and that as part of restoring justice, Villaroel must recognize Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
