DM Monitoring
CARACAS: U.S. government allegations of wrongdoing on the part of top Venezuelan officials are fabricated and fail to stand up to any scrutiny, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Sunday.
“The accusations against leaders of the Revolution are so clumsy and absurd that they fall apart on their own in the heart of the U.S.’ own ‘justice’ system,” Arreaza said via Twitter.
“They have used many weapons against Venezuela. Lies have been the main one. They have failed and will fail,” Arreaza added.
His remarks came in the wake of recent U.S. charges, based on information provided by a “key informant,” that Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami is involved in drug trafficking.
The informant is Alejandro Marin, a Venezuelan civil aviation pilot accused of having made false statements to U.S. federal authorities.
“Not even the media at the service of imperialism can hide the seriousness of the fabrication of accusations based on lies, criminals and protected mercenaries,” said El Aissami.
Washington has accused several top Venezuelan officials of drug trafficking. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice even offered rewards for the capture of some leading members of Venezuelan authorities, including President Nicolas Maduro, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Maikel Moreno.
