Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan officials on Tuesday denounced a report that links the head of the socialist South American country's congress to the drug trade.
Two Spanish-language newspapers reported Monday that the chief bodyguard of National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello has gone to the United States with information implicating him as head of a drug cartel made up of political and military officials.
The anonymously sourced stories were carried by ABC of Spain and the Miami-based El Nuevo Herald.
In Washington, William Brownfield, the State Department's top anti-narcotics official, said there is significant evidence that some members of the Venezuelan government have been corrupted by trafficking organizations and said the report naming bodyguard Leamsy Salazar "is not inconsistent with that narrative. That is as far as I am inclined to go."
He said he was neither confirming nor denying the report.
Loyalist Venezuelan Congressman Pedro Carreno took to Twitter to accuse the CIA of buying off Salazar.
Cabello also responded on Twitter, thanking people for their support at a time of "infamy and intrigue."
"Every attack against me strengthens my spirit and resolve," he said.
The top-trending Twitter topic in hyper-polarized Venezuela Tuesday afternoon was "total support for Diosdado," followed by "Diosdado drug trafficker."
The U.S. has long accused top Venezuelan political and military leaders of complicity in the drug trade. In July, former Venezuelan military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal was arrested in Aruba on a U.S. warrant. Venezuela was ultimately able to use diplomatic wrangling to have him set free.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
