U.S. Officials Intervened in Probe of Alejandro Betancourt, Granting Multi-Entry Visa
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 27
U.S. Officials Intervened in Probe of Alejandro Betancourt, Granting Multi-Entry Visa
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 27
Summary
Senior U.S. officials stepped into an international criminal investigation involving Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Swiss prosecutors had asked the Justice Department to arrest Betancourt, but he was instead granted a multi-entry visa and allowed to travel to the United States.
The intervention centered on a businessman the Trump administration had enlisted to help assert control over Venezuela’s government and oil industries.
The episode suggests U.S. policy toward Venezuela overlapped with a criminal case involving a politically useful oil-sector intermediary.