Russia says Venezuela has data showing Hugo Chavez was poisoned

Russia says Venezuela has data showing Hugo Chávez was poisoned Radio Minas Radio Minas Digital

Russia says Venezuela has data showing Hugo Chavez was poisonedPhoto taken from the internet

According to Venezuelan authorities, former President Hugo Chavez was poisoned with a special substance that can cause cancer, said Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian armed forces’ defense radiological, chemical and biological troops.

“According to data from Venezuela, this type of substance was used to poison Chávez by Claudia Díaz, who belonged to the presidential circle.”said Kirillov.

Explains to Sputnik that the official adds that the substance can cause cancer and several chronic diseases and is believed to have originated in the United States.

“With the help of US intelligence, Diaz left Venezuela and was later extradited to the United States to prevent details of her collaboration with US intelligence from becoming public.”Kirillov continued.

The Russian official confirms that Venezuelan authorities discovered that US intelligence agencies had been working on variants to eliminate the Bolivarian leader since 2002 and attempted to carry them out through Washington Embassy staff in Caracas.

The leads of the forensic examination and the testimonies of Cuban doctors who treated Chávez reinforce the cause-and-effect relationship between the death of the Venezuelan leader and developments by Washington in the field of biological weapons, said the representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Almayadeen chain recalls that in 2016, then-Venezuelan Vice President Aristóbulo Istúriz suggested that Chávez was assassinated because he wanted to end “dollar dictatorship” and, as he reported, the disease that ended his life had been induced.

Who is Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen?

Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén is a retired military officer who was Director of the National Treasury and Secretary of the Development Fund (Fonden) between 2011 and 2013. She was also Chávez’s nurse. Meanwhile, her husband, Adrián José Velasquez Figueroa, ran the former president’s security service.

In 2018, Díaz Guillén and her husband were arrested in Spain following an extradition request from the Latin American country’s authorities, who accused them of illegal enrichment, criminal conspiracy and money laundering. The Spanish national court approved the extradition. However, it reversed the decision for a “Possible violation of fundamental rights”.

In December 2020, Díaz Guillén and Velasquez Figueroa were arrested again at the request of the United States. In mid-October 2021, the court approved Díaz Guillén’s extradition. And in May 2022 it was delivered. A judge recently denied a motion by Díaz Guillén to dismiss the three money laundering charges he faces in a US court for alleged “exterritoriality”.

In a 15-minute hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a city about 46 kilometers north of Miami, Judge William Dimitrouleas denied the Venezuelan’s request. “The application is rejected at the expense of its renewal”was the Florida court’s response to the defendant’s attorney’s request.

In doing so, the judge agreed with the US Attorney’s Office, which ruled against dismissing the three counts of money laundering.

Díaz Guillén has been incarcerated in a West Palm Beach, South Florida jail since last May and will appear in court on October 17.

In the same case, Raúl Gorrín Belisario, owner and president of the Venezuelan broadcaster Globovisión, is charged.

According to prosecutors, Gorrín, a fugitive from US justice, paid millions of dollars in bribes to two former Venezuelan state treasurers, Díaz Guillén and Alejandro Andrade Cedeño, in order to secure the rights to conduct currency exchange transactions.