US includes two Venezuelan officials in counternarcotics list

[Bacchus39]

Major General Clíver Alcalá, of the Fourth Armored Division of the Venezuelan Army; ruling party lawmaker Freddy Bernal (United Socialist Party of Venezuela); alternate president to the Latin American Parliament Amilcar Figueroa, and intelligence official Ramón Madriz were blacklisted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, US Department of the Treasury, AFP reported.

They four Venezuelan citizens are subject to sanctions in connection with investigations to control money from drug trafficking or terrorism, said the US Department of the Treasury in a statement.

The communiqué, however, would not elaborate on the facts or charges against the four Venezuelans. Under the US law, their properties can be seized and no citizen of the US can do business with them.

The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List is regularly updated by the Department of the Treasury, following investigations to control money from drug trafficking and terrorism in the world.


http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/09/08/us-includes-two-venezuelan-officials-in-counternarcotics-list.shtml

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1. more info

US accuses 4 Venezuelans of aiding Colombia rebels
The U.S. Treasury Department said the four have collaborated with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and supported the rebel group's "narcotics and arms trafficking activities."

The four include Congressman Freddy Bernal, Gen. Cliver Alcala Cordones, intelligence official Ramon Isidro Madriz Moreno and Amilcar Figueroa, who has represented Venezuela in the Latin American Parliament.

Figueroa has provided training to the rebels, "has served as a primary arms dealer for the FARC, and is a main conduit for FARC leaders based in Venezuela," the Treasury Department said.

It said Bernal, a longtime Chavez ally and a lawmaker for the president's socialist party, "has facilitated arms sales between the Venezuelan government and the FARC."

Alcala, an army major general, "has used his position to establish an arms-for-drugs route with the FARC," while the intelligence officer Madriz has "coordinated security" for the guerrillas, the Treasury Department said.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-accuses-4-venezuelans-aiding-colombia-rebels-183153465.html