Venezuelan diplomat denies aiding al Qaida terrorists

www.sun-sentinel.com By Sandra Hernandez Staff Writer Posted February 21 2003

A Venezuelan diplomat accused of helping funnel money to terrorists in Afghanistan is asking the FBI to investigate the man who made the allegations.

Walter Marquez, Venezuela's ambassador to India, met with an agent in Miami on Thursday to file a complaint, according to Judy Orihuela, a spokeswoman with the FBI.

Marquez is in the United States to respond to allegations made last month by a former presidential pilot who accused him and President Hugo Chávez of transferring $1 million to the Taliban and al Qaida shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Juan Diaz Castillo made the accusations last month while in Miami, and said the money was disguised as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. He claims Marquez helped funnel the money to Afghanistan.

The case underscores the growing role South Florida is playing in Venezuela's mounting political crisis. During the past month, key opposition leaders have attended rallies in Miami and dissident military officials such as Castillo have shown up in Florida to denounce alleged plots. Now Venezuelan government officials appear to be using the same tactic to plead their case before the international community on Miami's shores.

Marquez says Castillo is lying. He displayed letters and bank receipts during a news conference at the Venezuelan Consulate in Miami in an attempt to prove the government made legitimate contributions of $1 million to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees to be used for Afghan aid. He said an additional $1 million was given to the Indian government for an earthquake relief fund.

Castillo made the accusations after fleeing Venezuela in January, saying he feared for his family's safety. He sought asylum in the United States, but his whereabouts could not be determined Thursday night.

Chávez opponents in South Florida say the presence of government officials here is simply a public relations move.

"The government is pleading their case in Miami because it has the benefit of the English- and Spanish-speaking world," said Fransisco Gonzalez, head of the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce. "It is clear that Chávez has lost sympathy, and the standard line that [the opposition] is a bunch of crazy people and Chávez is the victim is being eroded by their own tactics."

Marquez said he was responding to the allegation here because of the current crisis in Venezuela. Marquez is also named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Judicial Watch. That group filed suit last month on behalf of the family of a woman killed in the Twin Towers attack.

"I have never received information or instructions to give money to Al Qaida," he said.

The accusation and Marquez's response comes at a time when Venezuela is still reeling from the two-month strike that brought the country's oil industry to a near standstill, paralyzed the economy and left dozens dead or injured. Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves outside the Middle East.

The South American nation of 24 million was reeling again Thursday after a key opposition leader was taken into custody and dozens of others who supported the strike went into hiding fearing more arrests were imminent.

While Marquez declined to comment on the detentions, he acknowledged the current crisis is " a war, an undeclared war by both sides."

He added the solution must be political and include elections.

"The only way out of this current crisis is a political agreement. The government is not in a position to break the opposition nor is the opposition in a position to break the government," he said. "The government and the opposition are taking the country into a profound and worsening crisis. In the end, the government and the opposition will disappear some day, but the country will remain, and we have to fight for the survival of Venezuela."

Meanwhile, some members of South Florida's Venezuelan community said they fear the latest round of arrests will provoke a new exodus and further cripple the fragile economy.

"I don't think this latest action will do anything to stop the exodus because it is clear that there are going to be retaliations against the leaders of the strike," said Gonzalez, of the Venezuelan American chamber.

Others said the detentions will intensify Venezuelans' fears

"This is the worst message that could be sent out," said Magin Briceño, a Venezuelan member of the Weston Chamber of Commerce. "We were hoping that after the strike, the situation would ease a bit, but this seems to make the situation now worse. Everyday we receive dozens of calls from people there who want to know if we can help them."

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at shernandez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7923.