The Venezuelan opposition has released what it says is an audio tape revealing intrigue within the ruling socialist party of the late Hugo Chavez and Cuban meddling in the country’s affairs.
The opposition says the tape is of a conversation between well-known state media presenter Mario Silva and a Colonel Aramis Palacios, identified as a Cuban intelligence agent, about a rift among Venezuela’s top leadership.
In the tape, Silva accuses Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Assembly and a longtime member of Chavez’s inner circle, of controlling the country’s main intelligence agency and being “interested in power and money.”
“The only way to stop him is to show that he is corrupt and prove that the Comandante [Chavez] knew this,” Silva allegedly says, adding that he fears Cabello could take control of the armed forces and carry out a coup.
Cabello dismissed the tape, challenging the opposition to present “proof” and insisting there was a “monolithic unity” among the heirs of Chavez, who died in March after 14 years in power and a long battle with cancer.
Silva also dismissed the tape, saying it had been assembled as a “montage” from his programs.
