Wink from Spain to Venezuela: extradited to Chávez's bodyguard

[Blexfraptor]

The Spanish National Court agreed on Friday to extradite to Venezuela Adrián Velásquez Figueroa, bodyguard and head of security of the late president Hugo Chávez, on the understanding that he can not be a political persecuted because he is not an opponent.

The Court thus followed the same criteria as with Velásquez's wife, Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén, also claimed by Venezuela and who worked for years as a nurse of Chavez and was arrested in Madrid last April with her husband.

In the case of Velásquez, the court refuses to suffer reprisals in Venezuela because, according to the judges, he is not an opponent but a member of the Chávez administration, and the current government of Nicolás Maduro "is continuista" with his line.

Venezuela claims to this marriage for crimes of money laundering and unjust enrichment as a result of the publication of the "Panama papers", in which Velásquez-related companies appear with which, according to the Venezuelan authorities, they laundered money that they stole from public coffers .

Velasquez's defense argued that it was "reckless" to turn over Venezuela because it is a country where human rights are constantly violated.

He also highlighted the persecution suffered by opponents and said that after the death of Chavez and the rise of Maduro to power, "all members of the previous administration are persecuted for the simple fact of not aligning with the new government."

The court acknowledges that the Venezuelan government has been the object of a pronouncement by international organizations that denounce the violation of rights, but adds that "what is clear is that the political persecution in which human rights violations are committed is aimed at towards the opponents of the regime. "

That persecution is not directed against "the members of the Administration in the time of President Hugo Chávez for the mere fact of having been part of it, because the current Venezuelan Government is a continuist with the Administration of
Chavez and President Maduro himself was vice president of the Government of
Chávez. "

The magistrates of the second section remember that Velásquez held important positions as a member of Chavez's Honor Guard and was in positions "very close to the highest executive power in the nation" and that, shortly after ceasing in these positions in 2012 ( Chávez died in March 2013), he left the country and left it definitively in 2015.

"All this shows us that Mr. Velásquez has not personally suffered any kind of political persecution, nor is it presumed that he could suffer from it because he was part of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence and the Presidential Honor Guard" says the room.

Mr. Velásquez has not suffered any kind of political persecution, nor is it presumed that he could suffer from it because he was part of the government

The judges add that they are not aware of "facts or situations that may identify him as an opponent of the current regime." On the contrary, everything indicates that Mr. Velasquez left Venezuela for economic reasons and not for political reasons.

The court believes that the requirements of double criminality are met, but limits the crimes for which it could be condemned in Spain, which would be embezzlement or bribery and money laundering.

Velásquez's wife, who was Chávez's personal nurse and from 2011 to 2013 responsible for the nation's Treasury, appealed the decision of the National Court to grant her extradition to Venezuela for the same reasons as her husband and announced that she will request asylum in Spain.

Diaz Guillén said this week in an interview that the accusations against her and her husband have been "fabricated" by the Venezuelan authorities. If finally delivered to Venezuela, "my life would be in danger, they will torture me to confess crimes that I have not done," he said.