Venezuela’s VP Refutes ‘Kingpin’ Charges in Full-Page New York Times Ad
- El Aissami says lobbyists are deceiving Secretary Mnuchin
- He says he doesn’t hold assets in U.S. or anywhere else
Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, right, waves to attendees while accompanied by Tareck El Aissami, Venezuela's vice president, before the start of his annual address at the Supreme Court in Caracas on Jan. 15, 2017.
Photographer: Carlos Becerra/BloombergVenezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami proclaimed his innocence and slammed a decision earlier this month by the U.S. Treasury to impose sanctions on him due to suspected narco trafficking in a full page advertisement published Wednesday in the New York Times.
El Aissami, who just a week ago became one of the most-senior government leaders of any country added by the Treasury Department to a list of foreign nationals subject to economic sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, said that the case against him lacked evidence and accused “political sectors, lobbyists and stakeholders” of trying to deceive Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in an attempt to prevent the two countries from trying to improve their historically tense relationship.