Venezuelan VP calls US drug sanctions an ‘attack’

CARACAS AFP /Feb14, 2017-  Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami hit back on Tuesday at the United States for labeling him a drug kingpin, calling Washington’s sanctions on him a “vile attack.” El Aissami is the heir apparent to President Nicolas Maduro, and the US accusations against him triggered the latest row between Venezuela’s socialist government and Washington, the “imperialist” power it loves to hate.   

 “I take this miserable and vile attack as recognition of my status as an anti-imperialist revolutionary,” El Aissami wrote on Twitter.   

 “We must concentrate on the revolutionary government’s priorities: economic recovery and growth and guaranteeing PEACE and social happiness.” The US Treasury Department on Monday accused El Aissami and an ally, businessman Samark Jose Lopez Bello, of being major drug traffickers and froze their US assets.   

It said El Aissami protected and oversaw large shipments of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico and the United States while serving as the country’s interior minister and governor of Aragua state.