Venezuela Closes Ranks Around Sanctioned Vice President, Tareck El Aissami
Vice President Tareck El Aissami was blacklisted on Monday by the Treasury Department, which said
that Mr. El Aissami and an associate had moved drugs within Venezuela and had helped protect international kingpins.
The president also offered a spirited defense of Mr. El Aissami, saying
that in previous posts in the government, including at the Interior Ministry, he had led campaigns against drug trafficking in Venezuela.
nezuela," the office said. that facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, to include control over planes
that leave from a Venezuelan air base, as well as control of drug routes through the ports in Ve
14, 2017
LIMA, Peru — President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela on Tuesday defended his second-in-command, who has been sanctioned by the United States over allegations
that he is a narcotics trafficker, and said he would demand a public apology from the American government.
The sanctions, announced on Monday by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, described Mr. El Aissami as a "drug trafficker"
and a "kingpin" who had used his past positions of power, which also included a state governorship, to move large quantities of narcotics.
More than 100 kingpins have been caught in Venezuela during Mr. El Aissami’s tenure
in the government, the president said, with many extradited to the United States.
