Juan Guaido barred from office following financial irregularities
The State Comptroller of Venezuela – Elvis Amoroso has announced that the Government has barred the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, from holding public office for 15 years.
The State Comptroller said that Guaido’s personal financial statements show irregularities. Since being elected into the Assembly in 2015, Guaido has taken 90 international trips without giving any details of the expenses incurred in tune of U.S. $ 94,000. Besides, he has also been accused of harming Venezuela by seeking alliances with Foreign Governments.
The decision to stop Guaido from holding office would come into effect if he decides to contest elections at the end of his current term in the National Assembly.
Reacting to State Comptroller’s announcement, Guaido said, “Elvis Amoroso is not auditor general. The legitimate congress is the only one with power to designate an auditor general.”
Last week, Guaido’s Chief of Staff – Roberto Marrero was arrested for sabotaging against Government Officials.
The Interior Minister of Venezuela – Nestor Reverol had said, “Weapons and foreign currency” were found by intelligence services during a raid on his home.”. However, Guaido rubbished the claims and accused Maduro of conspiring against him.
The U.S., European Union (E.U.) and Latin American Nations have asked for the immediate release of Marrero.
For the records, Juan Guaido had earlier self-declared himself the Interim President of Venezuela, raising his voice against the current President of Venezuela – Nicolas Maduro. The President of United States (U.S.) – Donald Trump was the first one to recognize him as the Interim President of Venezuela. Presently, Guaido has support of more than 50 countries.
Soon after his declaration, his assets were frozen, and the Supreme Court of Venezuela had imposed a travel ban. But, Guaido defied the same and travelled Latin American countries to gain international support.
Guaido has also requested the security forces of Venezuela to stop supporting Maduro and switch sides.
It is to be noted that Maduro has support of China and Russia and has accused Guaido of being a part of a U.S. orchestrated coup.
Separately, Russia has responded to Donal Trump’s comments of asking Russia to stop its unconstructive behaviour in Venezuela.
The Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation – Maria Zakharova said, “To tell Russia to ‘get out of Venezuela’ is going completely over the top. This is total boorishness on a global scale.”
Trump’s remark came after 2 Russian military planes landed at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas in Venezuela, carrying 100 troops and 35 tonnes of equipment. According to Russian News Agency – Sputnik, the planes were sent as a part of earlier signed technical military contracts. The planes arrived 3 months after Russia and Venezuela jointly held military exercises.
