(Caracas) The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office announced Thursday that it had issued an arrest warrant against opposition leader Juan Guaidó and that it would request the launch of a red notice by Interpol, based on investigations carried out by a United States court and disclosed by the press
Prosecutors were appointed “to issue an arrest warrant against him and a request for a red notice from Interpol so that he pays for his crimes,” prosecutor Tarek William Saab said in a televised address.
Exiled in the United States, Juan Guaidó is notably accused of treason, usurpation of functions, money laundering and association to commit a crime.
Mr. “Guaidó used the resources of PDVSA (the public oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela, Editor’s note) to cause losses close to or greater than 19 billion dollars,” declared the Venezuelan prosecutor, who said he relied on “ revelations” provided to the press “by a federal court in the United States”.
Former President of the National Assembly, Mr. Guaidó proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela in January 2019 after the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 during a vote boycotted by the opposition and not recognized by many countries. including the United States and France.
In 2019, Washington, as well as part of the international community, recognized Juan Guaidó. The US president at the time, Donald Trump, imposed numerous sanctions on Caracas.
The opposition ended this interim presidency in January, believing that it had not fulfilled its objectives of political change.
US President Joe Biden, who succeeded Mr Trump, maintains he does not recognize Mr Maduro as president and has left the majority of sanctions in place.
His administration, however, approved an oil project by the American group Chevron in Venezuela last year and said it was willing to ease pressure on the country in exchange for efforts by the Venezuelan government.
Venezuela will hold its next presidential election in 2024.