Venezuelan National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello on Sunday said that he plans to file lawsuits in Spain and the US 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, the ruling United Socialist Party’s No. 2.
The Spanish newspaper ABC in January published a story alleging Cabello’s former security chief had fled for the US 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,” he added.
Cabello did not mention the Journal or the New York Times (NYT), which also reported that he is under investigation by US authorities.
However, 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.”
A Journal spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the paper had no comment. The NYT said it had no comment. Reuters was unable to obtain comment from ABC, which on Sunday featured a story on its Web site about Cabello’s statements.
The Venezuelan government has rallied around Cabello, dismissing the accusations as US-backed propaganda meant to weaken Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration.
US authorities have for years described Venezuela as a major transshipment point for drugs produced in Colombia, and have accused a number of high-ranking officials of involvement in the trade.
Venezuelan authorities deny those charges.
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