They denounce a raid on the home of relatives of Venezuelan journalist Roberto Deniz | CNN

(CNN Spanish) -

Authorities raided this Friday in Caracas the residence of the family of Venezuelan journalist Roberto Deniz of the Armando.info portal, according to the reporter to CNN.

"They seek to harass my family, I don't know, because it is public, it is well known that I have been out of Venezuela since 2018, precisely because of the Saab issue," Deniz told CNN by telephone.

He added that after the raid, none of his family members were arrested and nothing was taken from the property.

The raid on the house of Deniz's relatives occurs after he denounced on social networks that a Caracas court had issued an arrest warrant against him for the alleged crime of incitement to hatred.

The document, dated October 14, also asks Interpol to issue an international red alert against him.

A CNN team was at the scene and managed to talk with neighbors who assured that a team from the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps appeared at the scene.

Similarly, he was able to communicate with Deniz's lawyers who were at the scene and, according to his version, they were not allowed to be present during the procedure.

CNN has not been able to independently verify Deniz's arrest warrant.

Both the Public Ministry and the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, have so far not responded to calls seeking comment on the raid.

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"I don't know how far they are going to go, I don't know when it's going to stop, when it's going to end," Deniz said about the harassment of his relatives.

Deniz and the three Armando.info editors went into exile in 2018 after they were sued by Saab for alleged defamation and injury, crimes that carry prison terms in Venezuela.

Armando.info published in 2017 several investigations that assured that the Maduro government had benefited the Colombian businessman with a contract to supply food from the basic basket to the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP), a government subsidized food program.

The Maduro government has never referred to this demand.

Just a few weeks ago, regarding the Saab situation in Cape Verde, the questioned president of Venezuela mentioned Saab in public for the first time and acknowledged its link with the government program.

"They kidnapped businessman Alex Saab, who was the one who brought the CLAP to Venezuela from the world. They still keep him kidnapped in Cape Verde in an illegitimate, illegal and inhumane manner."

Saab, to whom Caracas has given diplomatic rank, has been imprisoned in Cape Verde since June 2020. Due to a red alert from Interpol, the businessman was detained by the authorities of the African island country during a stopover on his trip to Iran, where he according to the Venezuelan government, he was leading a humanitarian mission to acquire basic supplies.

Saab is wanted by the United States Department of Justice for alleged money laundering.

The US government described Saab as a front man for Maduro.

The Constitutional Court of Cape Verde considered that Saab's extradition process to the United States was in accordance with the law, thus opening the way for him to be extradited to that country.

The Colombian businessman's lawyers maintain that their client is innocent and that he has not committed any crime in any country.

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