Russia claims Venezuela has evidence that Chavez was poisoned

According to Venezuelan authorities, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) was poisoned with a special carcinogenic substance, according to Igor Kirillov, chief of the radiological, chemical, and biological defense forces of the Russian Armed Forces.

He explained that the substance in question can cause cancer and various chronic diseases and allegedly originated in the United States (US), which produced such substances “in violation of international law.”

“With the help of U.S. intelligence agencies, [Diaz] left Venezuela and was then transferred to the U.S. to prevent details of her cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies from becoming public,” Kirillov continued.

He said that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated last July that Washington was linked to Chavez’s death.

Venezuelan authorities, Kirillov said, had discovered that U.S. intelligence agencies had been working to eliminate Chávez since 2002 and were trying to do so through U.S. Embassy staff in Caracas.

Hugo Chávez became president of Venezuela in February 1999 and served until his death in early March 2013. In late 2012, he began treatment for cancer, which he had been diagnosed with in 2011.

Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén, in turn, is a retired military officer who was director of the Treasury and Secretariat of the Development Fund (Fonden) between 2011 and 2013. She was also Chávez’s nurse. Her husband, Adrian José Velasquez Figueroa, was head of the then-president’s security service.

In 2018, Díaz Guillén and her husband were arrested in Spain on an extradition request from Venezuelan authorities, who accused the couple of illicit enrichment, conspiracy to commit crimes, and money laundering.

Spain’s Audiencia Nacional approved the extradition but later overturned the decision due to a “possible violation of fundamental rights.” Díaz Guillén and Velasquez Figueroa were arrested again in December 2020, this time at the request of the United States.

In mid-October 2021, the court approved her extradition to the United States. In May 2022, Díaz Guillén was extradited to the United States.

With information from Sputnik

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