OREANDA-NEWSThe Venezuelan National Assembly (the opposition-controlled unicameral parliament) will conduct its own investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds allocated as humanitarian aid to military personnel who have gone over to the side of opposition leader Juan Guaydo. This was reported on Tuesday by EFE. Investigation will control the National Assembly Commission. It must determine whether violations of the allocation of funds intended to assist the Venezuelan military, who supported the opposition, and then deserted to neighboring Colombia, were committed by those appointed by Guaido responsible persons.

Earlier, the investigation was initiated by the Attorney General of the Bolivarian Republic. According to investigators, Rossana Barrera Castillo and Kevin Rojas Peñalosa, “whom Guaydo ordered to distribute the money”, appropriated these funds with the help of fake checks for allegedly paid services. They were charged with money laundering, corruption and criminal conspiracy.

On Monday, the Minister of Communications and Information of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, said that the republic’s authorities had obtained evidence that Guaydo was involved in the embezzlement of public funds and money allocated as humanitarian aid. According to the official, the data confirming this was found in the phone of Roberto Marrero, secretary of the opposition leader, who was detained in March.

On March 25, the newspaper El Comercio reported that two aircraft with Russian military personnel and 35 tons of cargo arrived on March 23 at Caracas International Airport. In the Organization of American States, Moscow was accused of “military invasion”. In response, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, explained that Russian specialists could be located in Venezuela in accordance with the military-technical cooperation agreement of 2001. The day after the publication, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to combat Russian influence in Venezuela, and on March 27, US President Donald Trump called on Russia to leave Venezuela and promised to achieve this.