The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office said Thursday it had issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Juan Guaido and would ask for Interpol’s help in his apprehension.
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Prosecutors were appointed “to issue an arrest warrant against him and to request a Red Notice from Interpol so that he pays for his crimes,” Prosecutor Tarek William Saab said.
Living in exile in the United States, Guaido was accused of treason, usurpation of functions, money laundering and association with a view to committing a crime, the official said.
The Venezuelan prosecutor said “Guaido used the resources of PDVSA (the public oil giant) to cause losses close to or greater than $19 billion,” adding that he relied on “revelations” provided to the press “by a federal court in the United States.”
The former president of the National Assembly, Guaido proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela in January 2019 after challenging the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in 2018.
Guaido’s claim received support from dozens of countries including the United States, which had adopted a battery of sanctions against Caracas, including an embargo on Venezuelan oil.
But Guaido failed to dislodge Maduro from power and has faded from the prominent role he once had. And late last year the Venezuelan opposition formally ended his position as acting president.
(AFP)
