MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Cabello denies cocaine trafficking and will file complaints against media reports in Spain and US
“It cannot be that in Spain the press, ABC can do this - smear someone without any type of proof. In the United States this cannot happen.” Venezuelan parliament chief Diosdado Cabello said in an interview on Sunday that he plans to file lawsuits in Spain and the United States following media reports that link him and other top officials to cocaine trafficking and money laundering.
The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago reported that US federal prosecutors were gathering evidence from former cocaine traffickers and military defectors as part of an investigation into Cabello, No. 2 of the ruling Socialist Party.
Spanish newspaper ABC in January published a story alleging Cabello's former security chief had fled for the United States with evidence that Cabello was involved in the drug trade.
Cabello denies the charges, and has sued three Venezuelan media outlets for republishing information from the ABC story.
“I've already sued here in Venezuela, but I'm also going to sue in Spain, and I'm also going to sue in the United States,” said Cabello in a television interview broadcast on Sunday.
“It cannot be that in Spain the press can do this - smear someone without any type of proof. In the United States this cannot happen.”
Cabello did not mention the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, which also reported that he is under investigation by US authorities.
But he added that “this man from ABC ... has gotten himself into a big mess, because I'm going to sue him over there in Spain.”
The Venezuelan government has rallied around Cabello, dismissing the accusations as Washington-backed propaganda meant to weaken President Nicolas Maduro's administration.
US authorities have for years described Venezuela as a major transshipment point for drugs produced in neighboring Colombia, and have accused a number of high-ranking officials of involvement in the trade. But as expected Venezuelan authorities deny those charges.
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Read all comments“Capt. Bob” aka Robert Maxwell owned the Mirror Newspaper Group in the UK.
Jun 01st, 2015 - 11:10 am 0Whenever somebody or entity claimed some wrongdoing he sued them to shut them up.
After years of this and denying any problems existed he jumped off the tail of his motor yacht and drowned: he had taken all the pension fund out of his group holdings and used them for himself. Many hundreds of people were left destitute in their retirement by his actions.
Beware powerful men who sue at the drop of a hat and boast about it.
Why doesn't the poor, innocent soul travel to the US and sue the WSJ , there ? Because he would be met at the door of the plane, handcuffed and escorted to Federal prison, courtesy of the DOJ.
Jun 01st, 2015 - 08:44 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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