Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab speaks on the investigations regarding the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot, May 2, 2024. Photo: X/@VTVcanal8.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced that the Colombian Attorney General’s Office has been asked to collaborate to investigate the complaint made by a paramilitary group that was allegedly contacted by the Venezuelan far-right to attack President Nicolás Maduro and sow chaos amid the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
This Monday, July 8, Saab announced that the Prosecutor’s Office (MP) made a written request to the Attorney General of Colombia, Luz Adriana Camargo, to allow the participation of the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office in any investigation that may be carried out in Colombia and to conduct interviews with the alleged witnesses.
He also explained that the MP has had contacts in Colombia who have provided information related to the identification of the far-right individuals who contacted them in the coming hours.
“I hope that the Colombian Attorney General’s Office will allow our officials to travel to Colombia to jointly develop, within the framework of international criminal cooperation, an investigation to clarify this nefarious act that is unanimously repudiated by all of Venezuela,” he said.
Saab added that “a source” had already reported that, two months ago in the Colombian Guajira, the paramilitary group Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra was contacted by an emissary who identified himself as a leader of the Venezuelan opposition.
He added that three meetings were later held in a restaurant in Maicao, Colombia, and that “three people always attended, two white people and one dark-skinned man, without a beard and with an average height of 175 cm.
The source reported that all those who attended the meeting identified themselves as supporters of the Venezuelan far-right opposition and asked the group to attack President Maduro in a street event or the electrical grid in Zulia state in the last days of the campaign to leave a large part of the country without electrical services.
They also asked the group to infiltrate marches to cause violence, with the plan that the opposition would not recognize the results of the July 28 election and would carry out acts of violence in response.
They were also shown maps highlighting the electrical infrastructure they wanted to be attacked and the Miraflores Palace. They offered political asylum when they took power, although no payment amounts were agreed upon.
The Venezuelan Attorney General recalled that in recent months, eight plans to assassinate the president have been revealed. He said that this new complaint was first reported by the Colombian media. In that sense, he rejected any misrepresentations of this latest plot.
On July 4, the paramilitary group Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra reported that the Venezuelan far-right had contacted its units in La Guajira. On July 6, the group issued a statement asking Colombian President Gustavo Petro to take steps to provide Venezuelan authorities with information about the complaint, AVN reported.
The ACSN statement to the presidents of Venezuela and Colombia
On July 6, the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra issued a statement addressed to Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in which they expressed their desire for peace, “convinced that the construction of peace is the only way to achieve the desires for prosperity and tranquillity that we owe the communities that inhabit the territory under our protection.”
The statement was released through a video posted on social media platforms in which they requested President Gustavo Petro to take the appropriate measures so that the Venezuelan authorities can have a direct dialogue “with our organization.”
FANB rejects far-right terrorist plans
This Monday, July 8, on behalf of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB), Venezuelan Minister for Defense Vladimir Padrino LĂłpez condemned the nefarious pretensions of the Venezuelan far-right to use Colombian paramilitaries to try to sow chaos in Venezuela amid the upcoming presidential elections on July 28.
Minister Padrino wrote through a statement published on social media that the FANB, in the civil-military union, remains alert to destabilizing plans and will ensure “the comprehensive defense of our beloved nation” at all costs.
(Ăšltimas Noticias) by Larry Marquez
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
