Juan Guaidó denies ties to 'Los Rastrojos' and accuses Maduro of "distracting attention from the central"

The self-proclaimed “president in charge” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, has denied this Friday any link with ‘Los Rastrojos’, in response to the appearance of some photographs with two members of this Colombian criminal gang, while he has accused the Government of Nicolás Maduro to use these images to “distract attention from the central.” The snapshots were known this Friday but were captured last February coinciding with the celebration of the Live Venezuela concert on the Colombian border to obtain humanitarian aid. In them, Guaidó appears with two alleged leaders of the narco-paramilitary group known by the aliases ‘El Brother’ and ‘El Menor’, as confirmed by the Colombian Police The Progresar Foundation in Norte de Santander, who has released these images, has suggested that Guaidó crossed the border with the help of ‘Los Rastrojos’. The truth is that it is still not known how it reached Colombian territory, since in those days the border line was sealed. “Photographs ask me for thousands,” said Guaidó, asked by the press if he knew who were the people with whom he was photographing himself. In addition, he has declared that he is happy that ‘El Brother’ and ‘El Menor’ were arrested last June in the middle of an internal fight by ‘Los Rastrojos.’ On how he arrived in Colombia, Guaidó has admitted that it was not easy Because, as he has related, he and his team encountered blockades and even armed confrontations, and he has emphasized that the objective was “to seek humanitarian aid for the people of Venezuela.” “They are going to see how we manage to cross” the border, he assured, advancing that he will publish some “unpublished videos” of the moment.For Guaidó, the appearance of these photographs, which the president of the Constituent Assembly and ‘number two’ of the ruling party, Diosdado Cabello, has exhibited on his television program, are proof that “the Maduro regime protects narco-terrorists.” . “The border is absolutely full of paramilitaries and guerrillas,” he lamented. In this sense, he has challenged Cabello to explain how those photographs came to his WhatsApp account. «The big question here is how do they get that photo, because thousands of people ask me for photos, but let them pass it on to you… Who gave it to Diosdado Cabello? Who then has the link? “He also asked the Maduro government to hand over to Colombia” all the irregular “on Venezuelan soil, among whom he specifically mentioned the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the FARC dissidents ‘Iván Márquez’ and ‘Jesús Santrich’. The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, reported this Friday that, “given the serious evidence that has been made public in recent hours Regarding Juan Guaidó’s connection with the narco-paramilitary group known as ‘Los Rastrojos’, the Public Ministry (…) has decided to open an investigation against him. This is the fifth criminal case against Guaidó. He is already being investigated for proclaiming himself “president in charge”, financial irregularities, diversion of funds destined for humanitarian aid and an alleged secret negotiation to hand over the Essequibo territory to Guyana in exchange for political support from the United Kingdom.For now, precautionary measures have been issued against him, including a ban on leaving Venezuela, although he has traveled to countries in the region without legal consequences, but there is no arrest warrant. All these accusations are part of the political crisis that Venezuela suffers due to the struggle between Maduro and Guaidó for the international community to recognize them as the only legitimate president.