Former Chavez top aide imprisoned in Venezuela
| CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A former close aide to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for embezzlement and abuse of power, his relatives said here.
“Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that the regime has once again taken a blow at justice,” Raul Emilio Baduel, son of former defense minister Raul Isaias Baduel, wrote late Friday on micro-blogging website Twitter. “My father has been sentenced to seven years and 11 months in prison.” Private television station Globovision, long a fierce critic of Chavez, has reported that a court martial also ordered the confiscation to Baduel’s goods linked to the investigation, and banned him from running for office. Baduel, a retired general arrested a little over a year ago, has been held in the Ramo Verde military prison in Los Teques, close to the capital Caracas. Serving as defense minister from 2006 to 2007, he was very close to Chavez starting in the 1980s, long before the firebrand leftist leader came to power in 1999. In April 2002, Baduel led the military operation that restored Chavez to power after a 47-hour coup. Baduel left his senior post in 2007 due to differences with Chavez. (Caribnet) |
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