The Mexican Foreign Ministry denies having collaborated with the opaque plot that circumvented the US sanctions on Venezuela

A worker walks past a mural with the PDVSA logo in Caracas, Venezuela.Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

The Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) of Mexico sent EL PAÍS a letter after the publication of the investigation entitled

in which he denies that the undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Maximiliano Reyes Zúñiga, has participated in the scheme to evade the economic sanctions that the United States has imposed on the Government of Nicolás Maduro. "The undersecretary categorically denies being part of the operations mentioned in their article," reads the letter, signed by Esteban González Mancha, director of Social Communication. "Likewise, we reject that the actions of Undersecretary Reyes have, directly or indirectly, facilitated the violation of the sanctions that the United States imposes on those who have commercial relations with the Venezuelan Government," it added.

In the letter, the SRE indicates that Reyes met with the businessman Joaquín Leal, sanctioned on June 18, 2020 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Government. for Latin America and the Caribbean, Maximiliano Reyes Zúñiga, has contacts with various businessmen with interests in his area of ​​responsibility ”, he refers, as reflected in the responses that Reyes gave to a written questionnaire and that were included in the report . “In this regard, the undersecretary's job is to promote and facilitate, with the help of Mexico's representations abroad, commercial and business ties that, within the framework of the law, are beneficial for Mexico and Mexican businessmen.These relationships have always been conducted with written adherence to the applicable regulations and the relationship with Joaquín Leal was no exception, ”the letter reads.

Regarding the economic sanctions against the Maduro government, the Foreign Ministry "rejects international sanctions as an instrument to resolve the political situation in Venezuela and, as it has done since the beginning of the Administration, invites the parties to dialogue." "Likewise, it is a promoter and participant in humanitarian aid actions that can alleviate the effects of the economic and social crisis that that sister country is experiencing," the letter concludes.

In the announcement of the OFAC sanctions, Leal is identified as the main operator of the “Oil for food” plot, a network of Mexican businessmen that sold more than 30 million barrels of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and used as justification for the provision of humanitarian aid to evade US economic sanctions.As the investigation shows, the network was extended with at least 50 companies in more than 30 countries and territories, some in tax havens, to erase the money trail and protect the identity of the final beneficiaries. The Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit has been investigating operations on suspicion of money laundering for 11 months.

The latest installment of the investigation by EL PAÍS and the Venezuelan portal

reports on a series of meetings that the businessman and the undersecretary held prior to the start of operations of Libre Abordo, one of the sanctioned companies.

The Foreign Ministry assures that "the only contact with Joaquín Leal occurred in the middle of the relationship with a group of businessmen in the energy sector, which ended several months before the sanctions of the US government against the Mexican businessman were made public."

Libre Abordo presented himself to his clients as a humanitarian agent, appointed by the Government of Mexico.

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