On September 13, the Venezuelan Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into suspected links of Guaido to Los Rastrojos, citing the photos, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, which showed the opposition leader together with the leaders of the gang. According to prosecutors, it was the drug cartel that helped Guaido to cross the Colombian-Venezuelan border despite the entry ban, imposed on the opposition leader by Caracas.
“The man on the photo is a Colombian citizen, also known as Menor. His accomplices from Los Rastrojos armed drug cartel tried to find him to kill but failed and murdered his parents and relatives, a total of four people. Investigators think that they tried to kill him to make him keep silent about Guaido’s links to Los Rastrojos,” the prosecutor general said at a press conference, broadcast on his Twitter page.
He also showed several photos of Guaido with one of the leaders of Los Rastrojos, who is thought to be responsible for kidnappings in the Venezuelan state of Tachira.
Last week, Guaido told the Blu radio broadcaster that he had made hundreds of photos with various persons during the humanitarian concert in the Colombian border city of Cucuta and did not know that some of these people had links to Los Rastrojos.
Venezuela has been suffering from severe political crisis since late January when US-backed opposition leader Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Maduro has accused Guaido of being a US puppet, working with Washington to orchestrate a coup so that the United States can control Venezuela’s natural resources.
Colombia has been providing Guaido with significant support since the crisis eruption.