Venezuelan opposition calls on the international community to act against the Maduro regime

The Venezuelan opposition on Tuesday called on the international community to take "more forceful action" against the regime of Nicolás Maduro following the dismantling of a gasoline smuggling gang and a drug trafficking organization made up of pro-government members.

Former opposition congresswoman Gaby Arellano called for firm action against the government, which she accused of "using the territory as a sanctuary for criminals, where they create plans to destabilize the entire hemisphere."

José Luis Pirela, also a member of the opposition, claimed that the arrests of mayor Keyrineth Fernández and deputies Taína González and Luis Viloria Chirinos during an operation against drug trafficking, show "an enlarged photograph of the moral decomposition that Venezuela and the spheres of power are experiencing."

He added that Maduro "wants to wash his face by disassociating himself from the implicated government officials." Hours earlier, opposition leader Juan Guaidó said that the arrests correspond to an "internal bill-passing" of the PSUV.

"The dictatorship takes for granted all the accusations we have made from the democratic alternative, the investigations carried out and the international community that link them directly to drug trafficking, to terrorism. The dictatorship is in a war of cartels and recognizes the accusations of drug trafficking," claimed Pirela.

Last Friday, Venezuelan Intelligence Forces dismantled a drug trafficking network operating in Zulia State and Falcón State, Venezuela. Six individuals were arrested, among them Mayor Fernández of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the two deputies of the pro-Chávez National Assembly.