Venezuela’s Defense Minister, with whom he sat with great kindness this Saturday, Colombian Minister Ivan Velasquez is a longtime acquaintance of North American officials.
They have been tracking him for years and, in fact, there is already a charge against a high-ranking official of the Chavista regime that points him to serious drug trafficking offenses.
The document, dated May 7, 2019, lists the reasons why he has been charged with attempting to deliver five kilos or more of cocaine on an aircraft registered in the United States.
Read the indictment:
At the time, US Attorney William Barr claimed that top Venezuelan officials “filled their pockets with drug money.” At the time, The Godfather pointed to these allegations as “gross deceit cooked in the darkest corner of his misery”.
It’s not the only issue they have in that country. Also weigh the harsh restrictions imposed by the Treasury Department on it.
The agency added him to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list in September 2018 and all assets held by him in the United States were frozen. Also, you cannot do business with an American or enter the country.
Padrino is the high-ranking official with whom Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez met to reopen the border. “Under the warm climate of this beautiful Andean land and proud to have begun restoration among sister nations, we feel honored by the presence of Dr. Iván Velásquez”, it was welcome that the moderator of the event gave the Head of Defense Portfolio in Colombia
“We talked about the first steps in this process of re-establishing relations, but also from the point of view of the ministries of defense and military and police relations,” he assured.
The senior official said that the meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere. And that some of the starting points were defined in terms of the 26th inauguration, but also what it means for the rebuilding of relations between the two countries. “They are going to be very useful to both the Colombian and Venezuelan communities and the population on the border,” he said.
“The restoration of ties is a historic event, but we want our people to feel that it will contribute to improving the living conditions of our people in their daily lives,” he said.
He mentioned that a schedule and specific tasks will be defined for the new projects, which he expects to be implemented very soon.
