PSUV vice president Diosdado Cabello launched a fresh volley of vitrol at the Colombian government of President Ivan Duque, continuing a war-of-words between the two countries that began earlier this week.
During a speech at a PSUV event in Caracas, Cabello said that Duque should “stop interfering” with Venezuela, and that he should instead focus on his own country’s problems.
Duque should have to talk about Colombia’s dead and about drug trafficking, which is the major industry in Colombia and which is promoted by his government.
The governments of Colombia and Venezuela often clash, most often at the initiative of the Maduro regime.
Most recently, Maduro accused Duque of being “a devil” who “hates Venezuela”. In response, the Colombian government issued a formal statement demanding that Maduro respect the will of the Colombian electorate and their leaders.
Cabello’s allegation that the Duque government is “promoting” drug trafficking in Colombia closely resembles long-standing claims that Cabello himself is a leading drug trafficker in the region, as are a number of other high-ranking regime officials.
Reports that U.S. authorities were investigating Cabello for his alleged active role in drug trafficking activities first surfaced in a Wall Street Journal article in 2015, in which he was named as a suspect in turning “the country into a global hub for cocaine trafficking and money laundering”.
In February 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department named then-vice president Tarek El Aissami as a “significant” player in international drug trafficking operations, and placed travel and financial sanctions against him.
PJ: Councilor’s Whereabouts Unknown After “Kidnapping” by Regime
The Primero Justicia (PJ) opposition party held a press conference today to denounce the fact that one of its members, a city councilor by the name of Fernando Alban, has been missing since yesterday after he was arrested by the SEBIN, the regime’s political police.
National Assembly deputy for PJ Dinorah Figuera told journalists outside of the SEBIN’s Caracas headquarters that no one has heard from Alban since his detention. She also explained that Alban’s colleagues and relatives have been looking for him in different jails to no avail.
Fernando Alban’s relatives, along with us [at PJ] and his lawyer, are looking for him. We were in the SEBIN’s Maiquetia , [as well as the offices in] Plaza Venezuela [and] El Helicoide. We went to the [Public Ministry], but we don’t know where he is right now. This violates the constitution.
Alban’s disappearance fits the modus operandi of what has become one of the most feared state institutions: the SEBIN. It is not uncommon for SEBIN agents to arrest an individual without identifying themselves or without presenting a warrant, and for them to take that individual into detention at an undisclosed location without informing anyone. Most commonly, the arrested individual surfaces days after the detention, sometimes on video.
Alban sits on the Caracas city council.
Questions/Comments? E-mail me: invenezuelablog@gmail.com
In Venezuela 
Pingback: 10.08.18: Fernando Alban | In Venezuela