Venezuela: Socialists Accuse Hezbollah-Tied Former Oil Minister of Conspiring with U.S.

Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro accused former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami — a man actively wanted by U.S. authorities on drug trafficking charges  — of working alongside the United States and the Venezuelan opposition to steal from Venezuela’s state coffers and to overthrow him since “at least 2018.”

Maduro’s accusations, levied on Monday evening in the latest episode of his weekly television show With Maduro Plus, came hours after Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela James Story and several exiled opposition members of working with El Aissami to steal billions in Venezuelan public funds through a corruption scheme involving the state-owned PDVSA oil company.

Tareck El Aissami was one of the most powerful individuals in the Venezuelan socialist regime elite while a protegé of the late dictator Hugo Chávez. He has long stood accused of maintaining close ties with the Shiite jihadist organization Hezbollah, acting as a middleman and facilitator between Hezbollah and Maduro.

U.S. authorities accuse El Aissami of being a drug kingpin in the service of the regime. In 2017, the administration of former President Donald Trump identified El Aissami as a specially designated narcotics trafficker and imposed sanctions on him. Since 2020, the United States has had an active $10 million bounty in place for any information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

El Aissami has occupied several high-ranking positions in government in the last 20 years, including serving as Maduro’s vice president between 2017-2018 and as oil minister between 2020 and March 20, 2023. On that day, El Aissami was unceremoniously purged alongside his entire inner circle, accused of stealing billions of dollars in oil revenue from PDVSA in a case that the regime commonly refers to as “PDVSA-Crypto.”

Following his purge, El Aissami disappeared for more than a year. On April 9, 2024, he resurfaced in police custody, facing charges of treason, money laundering, and corruption. El Aissami appeared in photographs in handcuffs and a prison uniform.

“A very corrupt mafia was formed that took advantage of the trust and power given to them [El Aissami and his allies], not only to embezzle the country, not only to steal, but also to articulate a plan with the extremist right wing and the United States government,” Maduro said during his weekly television show. “What could have been a presumption, today is confirmed with proof in hand, with statements.”

Maduro claimed Saab has evidence substantiating his claims, including “conversations, videoconferences by Zoom, and the statements of those involved who tell the story of everything.”

The evidence, according to Maduro, demonstrates that El Aissami and his top frontman and businessman, Samark López, had been “conspiring” with the Venezuelan opposition and U.S. officials to overthrow him since at least 2018.

Hours before Maduro made his accusations, Saab hosted a press conference in which he presented a recording of an alleged conversation between López and members of the Venezuelan opposition.

Maduro claimed that the “proof” that Saab presented on Monday afternoon only represents “one percent” of the total evidence that his regime has on the alleged plots between El Aissami, the Venezuelan opposition, and the United States against his regime.

The conversation allegedly “links” the Venezuelan opposition and El Aissami to Story, who served as ambassador to Venezuela between 2018 and 2023.

Saab also asserted that El Aissami’s corruption scheme, which the regime now claims the U.S. was involved in, sought to “implode” the Venezuelan economy and “destroy” its national currency, the Venezuelan bolívar, to cause the “failure” of the socialist regime’s economic policies.

Saab claimed during the press conference that El Aissami was the “political chief” of the purported conspiracy plots, with his businessman, López, acting as an “intermediate link.”

“This is a brief summary of the most surgical long vomit of this mafia that we are hearing there,” Saab said. “They thought that Venezuela is the backyard of the United States and therefore they act with such a level of surrender that is impressive.”

“El Aissami, Samark, and the whole group had those links with Story, who was the direct line of the U.S. government to favor, protect, and execute this plan that has caused incalculable damage to the Venezuelan nation,” he continued.

Story served as the head of the Venezuelan Affairs Unit (VAU) in Bogotá, Colombia, until May 2023. The VAU was created in August 2019 following the closure of the U.S. embassy in Caracas that year.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil echoed Maduro’s accusations against the United States by accusing Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols on social media of “covering up” the United States’ alleged involvement in the PDVSA-Crypto case. Gil was responding to Nichols condemning the detention of more Venezuelan opposition campaign personnel as the Maduro regime prepares to hold a sham presidential election in July 2024.

“Mr. Nichols attempts a crude and stupid maneuver, like a ridiculous smokescreen, to hide the responsibility of the United States in the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot,” Gil’s message read, “trying to protect his puppets and lackeys, in Venezuela and in the world, responsible for the permanent conspiracy against our country.”

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.