Venezuelan diplomat denies aiding Al Qaeda terrorists
www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 21, 2003 By: David Coleman
South Florida's Sun-Sentinel newspaper reports that Venezuela's ambassador to India, Walter Marquez has asked the US FBI to investigate a man who made false allegations against him, accusing him of helping to funnel money to terrorists in Afghanistan.
According to the report, published today, FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela confirmed that Marquez met an FBI agent in Miami yesterday to file complaint after traveling from his New Delhi embassy to respond to last month allegations by a rebel Venezuelan Air Force (FAV) pilot who accused Marquez and President Hugo Chavez Frias of transferring $1 million to the Taliban and Al Qaeda shortly after the September 11 (2001) attacks on New York's 'Twin Towers.'
Juan Diaz Castillo, who had flown Venezuela's Presidential plane until he was kicked out of the Air Force and joined elements in Venezuela's radical opposition, made the spurious accusations last month from self-imposed exile Miami, saying that the money was disguised as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and claiming that Ambassador Marquez had facilitated the deal.
Writing in Florida's Sun-Sentinel, reporter Sandra Hernandez says "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."
Hernandez insists that Marquez says Castillo is lying ... "he displayed letters and bank receipts during a news conference at the Venezuelan Consulate in Miami to prove that the government made legitimate contributions of $1 million to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to be used for Afghan aid." Marquez said that an additional $1 million was given to the Indian government for an earthquake relief fund.
Castillo had made the accusations after fleeing Venezuela in January ... he said he feared for his family's safety and had sought asylum in the United States ... but he had apparently gone underground Thursday as the FBI investigation kicked off.
Venezuelan anti-constitutional rebels in Florida are reported as saying the presence of Venezuelan government officials in Miami 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," according to Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce executive Francisco Gonzalez. "It is clear that Chavez has lost sympathy, and the standard line that the opposition is a bunch of crazy people and Chavez is the victim is being eroded by their own tactics."
The Florida Sun-Sentinel reports Marquez as saying he was responding to the allegation in Miami because of the current crisis in Venezuela. He is also named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Judicial Watch which filed suit last month on behalf of the family of a woman killed in the Twin Towers attack. He reiterates that "I have never received information or instructions to give money to Al Qaeda."
Questioned on possible solutions to Venezuela's domestic-political crisis, Marquez says "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 ... 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."
South Florida's Venezuelan expats said they fear the latest round of arrests (Fedecamaras Fernandez) will provoke a new exodus and further cripple Venezuela's fragile economy ... Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce executive Francisco Gonzalez says "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."
Magin Briceno, quoted as a Venezuelan member of the (Florida) Weston Chamber of Commerce says "this is the worst message that could be sent out ... 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."