[News] Arrest of Guaido's Uncle for Smuggling Explosives

[Anti-Imperialist News]

orinocotribune.com 
<https://orinocotribune.com/msm-brushes-off-arrest-of-guaidos-uncle-for-smuggling-explosives-as-intimidation/> 



  MSM Brushes Off Arrest of Guaido's Uncle for Smuggling EXPLOSIVES as
  Intimidation

February 14, 2020
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The arrest of self-appointed ‘interim’ president of Venezuela Juan 
Guaido’s uncle on explosives smuggling charges has been spun as a 
‘kidnapping’ – or even ‘revenge’ for Guaido’s State of the Union stunt – 
by credulous MSM.

Juan José Marquez, uncle to thrice-failed coup leader Guaido, was 
arrested on Tuesday after returning to Caracas from Lisbon, where he had 
been accompanying his relative on a world tour to shore up support for 
the latter’s flagging efforts to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

While Marquez was charged with smuggling “dangerous materials” – a stash 
of C4 explosives concealed in flashlight batteries and perfume capsules 
– into the country, sympathetic media have lined up behind Guaido’s 
explanation for the arrest. Marquez, Guaido insisted, had been “forcibly 
disappeared by the dictatorship” in a “cowardly move” meant to 
intimidate the wannabe leader.

RELATED CONTENT: Diosdado Cabello: Guaido’s Uncle was Arrested After 
Carrying Explosives on TAP Flight (Video) 
<https://orinocotribune.com/diosdado-cabello-guaidos-uncle-was-arrested-after-carrying-explosives-on-tap-flight-video/>

Vice President Diosdado Cabello poured cold water on that theory. “He’s 
detained, not forcibly disappeared, he’s detained for bringing 
prohibited substances onto a flight,” the statesman explained on his 
Wednesday night TV program, showing photos of the explosives and a 
bulletproof vest – also contraband – allegedly taken off Marquez after 
he went through immigration control at Caracas airport. The supposedly 
apolitical uncle, whose wife insisted he was an airplane pilot who 
merely accompanied Guaido for protection, was also in possession of an 
electronic file with information about “operations against Venezuela” 
and contact information for a US secret service agent, Cabello said.

Maduro’s second-in-command also showed an image of Guaido’s ID card cut 
up, explaining it had been confiscated at the airport upon his return to 
Caracas. Guaido embarked on his three-week ‘last chance’ tour in 
violation of a travel ban placed upon him by the government, whose 
promises to bring him to justice upon his return triggered warnings of a 
“swift” – presumably military – “response” from the US government. While 
friendly media at first claimed Guaido was embraced by supporters as he 
arrived at the airport, later stories admitted he was actually met by an 
enraged group who threw things at him, denouncing the US-imposed 
sanctions that have produced dire shortages of needed supplies – though 
that group was framed as a “pro-government mob,” or even organized by 
“the Maduro regime.” Guaido has defended the sanctions and warned there 
would be more to come.

RELATED CONTENT: Diosdado Cabello: What Happened Yesterday at Guaido’s 
Arrival is a Spontaneous Reaction of an Indignant People 
<https://orinocotribune.com/diosdado-cabello-what-happened-yesterday-at-guaidos-arrival-is-a-spontaneous-reaction-of-an-indignant-people/>

The US-backed would-be president’s use of the word “disappeared” to 
elicit sympathy from his allies in Latin America and beyond rings as 
particularly cynical given that one of his chief allies in the US, 
special envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams, was deeply involved in many 
of the US-backed military dictatorships that ‘disappeared’ thousands of 
political dissidents, union leaders, and other inconvenient individuals 
in the 1980s. Abrams has threatened not only Maduro, but any foreign 
country that continues to do business with his government, with severe 
repercussions including (but presumably not limited to, given his 
history) sanctions. Marquez’s trial began on Wednesday night and he is 
being represented by private lawyers, according to opposition lawmaker 
Delsa Solorzano – courtesies not extended the victims of regimes of 
decades past.

Guaido was one of the guests of honor at US President Donald Trump’s 
State of the Union address last month, and some particularly anti-Maduro 
US media even suggested Marquez’s arrest was “revenge” for the 
cringeworthy stunt. Despite his enthusiastic support in the Trump 
administration, however, Guaido’s base in Venezuela has dwindled, with 
even the anti-Maduro National Assembly electing a new leader last month.

/Featured image: © Reuters / Manaure Quintero/

Source URL: RT News 
<https://www.rt.com/news/480778-guaido-uncle-arrested-explosives-media/>


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