MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Caracas confirms arresting Argentine Gendarmería NCO

“It is not that [Gallo's] mission has been aborted. We have given him a hard blow thanks to the State security agencies,” Cabello underlined

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello Monday confirmed that Argentine Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional) First Corporal Nahuel Gallo had been arrested by the Chavista regime because “he came to fulfill a mission.” Cabello added that Gallo's social media activity showed a lifestyle unfitting his salary, which raised doubts about his ultimate intentions.

“A person was detained. You get into his Instagram, he travels all over the world, but his salary is US$ 500. What was he coming to Venezuela to do? What was his task?” Cabello wondered. He also questioned Gallo's version of a family visit: “Everybody puts up a front. He had his girlfriend, his boyfriend. Do you want to get married? Come to Venezuela! Come to Venezuela! Do you want to get a boyfriend or a girlfriend? Come to Venezuela! Everybody makes that excuse,” insisted the ruling PSUV Party's number two.

Read also: Argentine Gendarmería NCO feared to be at El Helicoide prison

“It is not that the mission has been aborted. We have given him a hard blow thanks to the State security agencies,” he added.

Regarding Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich's protests, Cabello replied that she had her priorities backward, particularly when it came down to the Malvinas/Falkland Islands sovereignty controversy with the United Kingdom.

Cabello also pointed out that Gallo's future was in the hands of the Venezuelan Judiciary. “It is in the hands of Justice, here there is a Justice that really works,” he claimed while hinting that the lack of diplomatic ties between the two countries would complicate Gallo's situation. “The Argentine Foreign Ministry will see what it does. They decided not to have relations with us, it gets complicated.”

The minister also warned that opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia - now in exile in Spain - would be arrested the minute he set foot in Venezuela. The Unitarian Democratic Platform (PUD) candidate insists he won the July 28 elections and intends to be in Caracas on Jan. 10 to take the oath of office.

”On January 10, the only one who will be sworn in is Nicolás Maduro. There is not a single possibility, not one, not half a chance, (of) Mr. filthy González setting foot in Venezuela without being arrested,” Cabello stated during a press conference of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), broadcast by state channel VTV.

Although Maduro's reelection has been questioned by the international community, the Bolivarian regime holds the PUD as a group of rebels who intend to take power by force.