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| Walid Makled. |
Miguel Ángel Ruiz, Makled’s Colombian lawyer, said his client would like to appear before Venezuela’s National Assembly to hand over evidence that at least five legislators and 40 generals were on his payroll.
“He is going to face the charges against him but he also wants to make these accusations,” Ruiz told The Miami Herald, hours after Makled was hustled onto an airplane bound for Caracas. “He feels and believes that the best setting for those accusations is in front of the full Venezuelan parliament.”
Makled has been in Colombian custody since August, when he was picked up on a U.S. drug warrant. His arrest sparked an intense extradition battle between the United States and Venezuela, where the government of Hugo Chávez wants him on charges of murder and drug trafficking.
Makled has maintained his innocence and said he built his business empire on the back of an airline, government contracts and warehouse operations at state-run ports.
In several jailhouse interviews, Makled, 47, said he had videotapes and other evidence that proved Venezuelan politicians and generals were complicit in his business dealings and had turned a blind eye to drug operations.
Last month, Makled — also known as “El Turco” or “The Turk” — told Univision that he paid Gen. Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela’s director of Military Intelligence, 100 million bolivares (about $23,300) a week.
In 2008, the U.S. put Carvajal on a blacklist for allegedly dealing in arms and cocaine with Colombia’s FARC guerrillas.
Makled also said there were cocaine production labs in the states of Maracaibo and Apure that were being protected by the Venezuelan military.
Those allegations — and hints of more to come — turned Makled into a political hot potato.
Over the last several months U.S. legislators had demanded he be sent to the United States, saying his testimony might be lost for good in Venezuela.
Chávez accused the United States of wanting Makled to use as a propaganda tool to sully his government.
Makled’s lawyer would not confirm reports that his client met with U.S. authorities — including the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and New York prosecutors — while in custody.
“Makled dealt with those issues himself,” Ruiz said.
Dressed in a black suit and chewing gum, Makled was escorted onto a Colombian aircraft Monday morning under heavily armed guards.
The extradition had been delayed as the Colombian government sought assurances that Venezuela would respect due process and that Makled would not face the death penalty.
“We hope all goes well,” Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín told RCN radio Monday. “We have been working on this for months.”
But Colombia isn’t off the hook yet, Ruiz said.
“It’s Colombia’s obligation to make sure that Venezuela complies with the safeguards it says it will provide,” he said.
His client has also asked Venezuelan authorities to see his family and visit his three brothers, who are also under arrest on drug charges.
The extradition is yet another sign of Colombia’s improved cooperation with its neighbors.
When Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August, regional relations were at an all-time low. Ecuador had broken off diplomatic ties in 2008 after Colombia staged a cross-border raid on a FARC encampment. And Venezuela had virtually cut off trade with its neighbors amid accusations it was covering up FARC activity there.
But Santos’ pragmatic style and conciliatory tone have helped turn things around.
Last month, Venezuela arrested and extradited Joaquin Perez, who is thought to be the FARC’s top ambassador in Europe. And last week, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa traveled here to meet with Santos and inaugurate Colombia’s International Book Fair.
When Correa was asked how relations between the two countries might be improved he said the only thing lacking was for his son “Miguelito to marry a Colombian.”
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