Venezuela denies drugs link in envoy’s murder

Venezuela's foreign minister on Thursday slammed "right-wing, tabloid" journalists of launching a dirty campaign to discredit the country after its acting ambassador, Olga Fonseca, was murdered in Kenya. Fonseca was found strangled in a bedroom at her official residence in Runda last month, less than two weeks into her posting.

A senior Venezuelan diplomat was charged on Monday with her murder. This week the Star quoted police sources saying embassy staff had been using diplomatic bags to smuggle drugs, and that new procedures put in place by Fonseca might have angered them and contributed to her death. The Star's report was widely repeated by the Venezuelan media. "There are right-wing tabloid media that are morbid, perverse and malicious, and which have launched a dirty campaign against this honorable woman," Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said during a visit to China.

Some journalists in Venezuela and elsewhere, Maduro added, were using "a tragic, difficult event to engage in a campaign against Venezuela, against the honor of Venezuelan men and women." His comments were carried in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Caracas. Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami also addressed the new allegations this week, saying there were no signs that Fonseca's murder was linked to drug smuggling. Fonseca's arrival followed the abrupt departure of his predecessor who was accused of sexual harassment by his domestic staff.

On Monday, Dwight Sagaray, the first secretary at the embassy, was charged with her murder and remanded in custody. His diplomatic immunity has been waived. Kenyan authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for a friend of Sagaray, Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Hassan, in connection with the killing. Detectives in Nairobi said Hassan, a Kenyan of Somali descent, had "masqueraded" as a Venezuelan diplomat in the past, and was known to have used Sagaray's official vehicle. In addition, two security guards have been charged with failing to stop Fonseca's murder. They have both pleaded not guilty.