(CNN Spanish) -
The head of the Campaign Command of the ruling party in Venezuela in the face of the parliamentary elections, Jorge Rodríguez, denounced this Friday through state television that the opposition diverted funds from the Simón Bolívar Foundation belonging to Citgo, the US subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
The candidate for deputy for Caracas presented as alleged evidence a document and a video of the journalist and member of the opposition party Voluntad Popular, Roland Carreño, in which he describes the alleged financial distribution of the funds of said foundation, in which they would supposedly be benefiting various opposition parties.
The former Minister of Communication also said that Roland Carreño had US $ 12,000 in cash found that, according to Rodríguez, was stolen from Citgo.
Jorge Rodríguez considered that the objective of this action was to appropriate the funds of the nation and steal the money.
MIRA: Leopoldo López assures that the Venezuelan opposition is experiencing the worst moments in 20 years
Rodríguez did not specify how, without being part of the Venezuelan justice system, he had access to the video, and limited himself to saying that "it fell into his hands."
The defense lawyers of Roland Carreño, Ana Leonor Acosta and Joel García, warned that they were not present during the recording that, according to both the Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez, and the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, took place even before the journalist's presentation hearing.
"They put Roland on videotapes saying a script that the police gave him," Garcia told CNN.
"He made several videos under duress, but none of those videos could be incorporated into the case because they were obtained illegally," he warned.
According to the Constitution of Venezuela, for a testimony or confession to have legal validity, it is essential that your lawyer be present.
CNN could not independently confirm whether Carreño recorded the video voluntarily, as authorities claim, or under duress.
Carreño was detained since October 26 and presented to the courts on Wednesday night where he was indicted on charges of conspiracy, illicit arms trafficking and terrorist financing and remains detained at the Helicoide, one of the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service. , Sebin, the political police.
His relatives and defense attorneys assure that Carreño is not only innocent, but that due process has been violated during the process.
MORE: Leopoldo López supports presidential elections with international support as a way out of the crisis in Venezuela
Through a statement released this Friday, the Simón Bolívar Foundation "categorically rejected such allegations about the foundation's activities."
In the letter they assure that the foundation is registered with the US tax authority and that "it is strictly and explicitly prohibited from financing political parties and any other political activity both in the US and in another country."
They highlight that they work under strict anti-corruption clauses and conflicts of interest.
In a statement released this Friday, the Popular Will party, to which Roland Carreño belongs, rejected the accusations against activists of that organization and described Carreño's arrest as kidnapping.
The party stressed that the efforts of its activists have been honest and in no case have come from public funds.
It is worth mentioning that since 2017, the US Treasury Department ordered the freezing of the assets of the questioned President Nicolás Maduro and his associates as part of the sanctions aimed, as they have said, to achieve a democratization process in the country.
This institution has explained that it maintains control of said funds and not Juan Guaidó's team.