Venezuela Deports Alleged French Assassin

Venezuelan authorities have deported a French citizen after accusing him of being an agent of the French government sent to assassinate Hugo Chavez.

Frenchman Frederic Laurent Bouquet was arrested on June 18, 2009 by the nation’s political police, formally named the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP).

Very little information was made available to the international community about the arrest and allegations against Bouquet until recently. On December 29, 2012, Venezuela’s Minister of Prisons, Iris Varela, used Twitter to announce that Bouquet had been expelled from Venezuela. The prison minister offered no details regarding where Bouquet had been deported to.

Varela claimed Bouquet had confessed to the alleged assassination plot and had been caught with weapons. No proof was provided and it remains unclear whether or not Bouquet was ever formally charged with a crime. After media criticism regarding the lack of proof of formal charges, Varela used Twitter once again to claim there had been charges and a 4-year sentence. However, no documentation was provided, only indiscernible photos were tweeted as proof.

This alleged plot falls into a long list of other alleged assassination plots Hugo Chavez has claimed foreign governments had planned.