Weeks after challenging government to provide proof, evidence has now emerged to show United States (US)-sanctioned businessman, Nazar Mohamed, leaving the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown.
In CCTV footage obtained by this publication shows Mohamed walking out of the Venezuelan Embassy in the company of another person and entering a vehicle, which drove off. This publication has since confirmed that the vehicle, PAG 3664, is registered to the Mohameds.
Nazar and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, the latter who founded the We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) party and is contesting the September 1 elections as the presidential candidate, have been sanctioned along with several of their businesses by the US over gold smuggling and public corruption.
Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd had expressed concerns over “the Mohameds” frequent visits to the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown.
Todd said that he had previously summoned the Venezuela’s Ambassador to Guyana, Carlos Amador Perez Silva, to a meeting on the issue, and the diplomat indicated that “the Mohameds visited the embassy to apply for visas to go to Venezuela, specifically Caracas” – something which the minister said is alarming in light of recent concerns raised by at least two US Congress members over what they had described as Venezuela’s attempt to influence internal affairs in Guyana, specifically through Mohamed.
Congress members Carlos Gimenez and María Elvira Salazar called Azruddin Mohamed “Maduro’s puppet” earlier this year, an accusation the Guyanese businessman has refuted.
Moreover, Azruddin Mohamed has also denied visiting the Venezuelan Embassy but Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo subsequently said that there is video evidence of Nazar Mohamed going to the embassy.
At a previous press conference, Jagdeo had challenged the Mohameds to prove his claims wrong, saying he is even willing to put his political career on the line.
In an article published by the Stabroek News on August 17, however, Nazar Mohamed refused to answer whether he did in fact visit the Venezuelan embassy here and was quoted as saying, “the allegations are just so totally foolish and absurd.”
According to the Stabroek News article, the sanctioned businessman also claimed that the allegations were made to paint his son in a bad light.
With the emergence of the CCTV footage, this now raises questions as to what was discussed and why the Mohameds were reluctant to admit that a visit was indeed made to the embassy.
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