Spain hands over to the US the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence accused of drug trafficking

First modification: 07/19/2023 – 23:50

4 min

The shipment of Carvajal out of Spanish territory follows the US government’s request for his custody, which alleges that the former member of Hugo Chávez’s cabinet would have participated in criminal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking during his period in public office. .

The former Venezuelan military officer has been wanted by the US justice system since 2011, when the country’s judiciary began a criminal investigation against him. However, Venezuela also demands it so that he can be tried for his crimes during his period in government.

“Hopefully the United States – Spain did not do it and it should have done it – in adherence to the extradition treaties that Venezuela has with different countries of the world, hand over a criminal to Venezuela, as is the case of Hugo Carvajal, who is being requested by the Venezuelan Justice to answer for various crimes,” said Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly.

From Chavista ‘heavyweight’ to being extradited for drug trafficking

More than a decade ago, the New York prosecutor’s office built a case accusing Carvajal of coordinating the trafficking of more than 5 tons of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006, while he was part of the government of the late president, Hugo Chávez. .

In addition, he is also accused of allegedly cooperating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to transport drugs to US territory.

At the beginning of 2019, ‘El Pollo’ joined the opposition movement, Juan Guaidó, after a political break with high levels of Chavismo – including the president, Nicolás Maduro. However, in February of that year, Carvajal fled Venezuela for Spain, after the opposition failed to remove Maduro from power.

The Venezuelan ex-military man was arrested by the Spanish Police a month after arriving in Madrid, after discovering that he entered the territory with a false passport. Carvajal was arrested, but the National Court, the Spanish justice body in charge of extraditions, ordered his release while the authorities decided on his condition.

Despite the fact that in November 2019 the Spanish authorities gave the green light for the transfer of ‘El Pollo’, his capture was not possible, since he fled. It was not until two years later that the capital’s police forces found Carvajal’s whereabouts in an apartment in Madrid, where he was captured and turned over to the judicial authorities.

Multiple attempts to avoid extradition

Since his final arrest in 2021, Hugo Carvajal’s defense has tried all judicial resources to prevent ‘El Pollo’ from being tried by a US court. His lawyers filed multiple appeals before the Spanish Supreme and Constitutional Court to reverse the decision to extradite his client, all of which failed.

In addition, they submitted two applications for asylum to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, which were promptly rejected.

Carvajal even offered to testify as a protected witness before the authorities in a case related to the possible irregular financing of the left-wing party ‘Podemos’, in which he allegedly offered valuable information about the role of the Venezuelan government in the matter, although his statements they were dismissed.

His most recent maneuver was to appeal his extradition to the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that if he were sent to US territory he would be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, something “inhuman” according to the Venezuelan defense. Strasbourg dismissed the demand last Tuesday, which gave the final ‘yes’ to his extradition.

‘El Pollo’ Carvajal would arrive in New York on Thursday to face a trial in which he would plead not guilty to the charges against him, according to his lawyer, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, for the US agency ‘Associated Press’.

With Reuters, AP, EFE and local media