Guyanese businessman and presidential candidate of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, Azruddin Mohamed, has strongly denied claims that he has been visiting the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown to secure a visa to travel to Caracas.
In a statement released to the press, Mohamed described the allegations as “baseless, malicious, and politically motivated.” He insisted, “I never visited the Venezuelan Embassy, nor have I applied for a visa to travel to Venezuela.”
The WIN party leader’s response came hours after Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd said he had summoned Venezuela’s Ambassador to Guyana, Carlos Amador Perez Silva, regarding the issue. Todd noted that Congressman Carlos Gimenez had raised concerns about what he described as Venezuela’s attempts to influence internal affairs in Guyana through Mohamed.
“I’m encouraged to inform you that only recently we found out that the Mohameds have been frequently visiting the Venezuelan Embassy here in Georgetown. Now, you can recall that we’ve had Congressmen in the United States of America who have been very vocal in connecting the Mohameds to Nicholas Maduro and his regime, particularly as it relates to smuggling and the sanctions that have been placed on Venezuela, gold smuggling that is, and money laundering,” Todd disclosed during an interview conducted by the Department of Public Information.
In his statement, Mohamed called out the government over the allegations, saying, “This smear campaign is meant to be a distraction from the PPP alleged corruption being exposed making headways on social media.” He added that the campaign is an attempt to “divert attention from the truth and suppress the voices exposing their wrongdoing.” Mohamed challenged the Venezuelan Embassy to produce evidence supporting the claims: “Present any record of my entry to the Embassy. Show the Guyanese people a single shred of documentation of me applying for a visa.”
Mohamed expressed his disgust at the allegations and accused the government of misusing state resources for political gain. “It is off-putting that this administration would stoop to such depths, squandering state resources in a quest for political mileage against me and by extension the WIN party. To coerce the Venezuelan Ambassador into misleading the Guyanese public speaks to the lengths this administration is willing to go using his ministers as pawns. It also exposes the fact that the government of Guyana is in cahoots with the government of Venezuela,” he said. He warned that such actions could put Guyana’s territorial integrity at risk, adding, “…With leaders like this, our sovereignty could be bartered away behind closed doors. All of Guyana must recognize this for what it is, the Ali administration is in bed with the Government of Venezuela and this presents a looming danger to our national sovereignty.”
Urging his supporters to remain focused on the upcoming election, Mohamed said, “September 1 is not just polling day; it is a turning point in our nation.”
