In June 2009 , Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Relations , Nicolás Maduro , described Peña Esclusa as a man that " has spent his life tied to the CIA and numerous violent movements including the 2002 military coup against president Hugo Chávez and a member of violent right-wing groups that moved about Central America for long periods alongside Luis Posada Carriles , a terrorist protected by the North American justice system and wanted in Venezuela . " In early July 2010 the Salvadoran Francisco Chávez Abarca ( convicted in Cuba for his role in the 1997 Cuba hotel bombings in December 2010 ) was arrested in Venezuela and according to the Venezuelan authorities named Peña Esclusa an accomplice in a plan to use violence to disrupt the September 2010 parliamentary elections . In response Peña Esclusa posted a video online denying the accusations and said that he expected to be arrested within a day . That evening he was arrested in his home by Venezuela 's political police SEBIN for possession of explosives . Peña Esclusa 's wife claimed that search officers planted explosives in the desk of the couple 's eight-year-old daughter . His lawyer , Alfredo Romero , accused the 13 members of the political police of violating his client 's constitutional rights at the search and arrest by not allowing his lawyer to be present or to inspect the search order . Luis Cabrera , the presiding judge , ruled that the presence of the lawyer could lead to impunity , to which Romero commented , " This court has declared dead the right to defense in Venezuela . " Peña Esclusa was denied bail on July 15 , 2010 . The preliminary hearings were held January 27 , 2011 , and on February 7 the defense appealed . The defense has consistently objected to the fact that the court has denied every request to order the presence of the star witness of the prosecutor for cross-examination ( Francisco Chávez Abarca was sent to Cuba just before Peña Esclusa 's arrest , in accordance with an Interpol red notice ) . The government only publishes their verdict , and never the appeal from the defense that they are denying , why the defense position is never reported objectively in official documents or state-controlled media . However , FuerzaSolidaria has published Peña Esclusa 's petition in court , in which he accused the judge of acting politically , and the prosecutor of lying about statements allegedly made by Chávez Abarca
1997 Cuba hotel bombings
1997 Cuba hotel bombings
Alejandro Peña Esclusa