AMIDST concerns about We Invest in Nationhood (WIN)’s leadership’s ties to the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela, the party posted a Spanish-language election message on its official Facebook page.

The video, which was removed within 20 minutes of being posted, contained the party’s tags and had a woman who was speaking Spanish.

This video raises further questions about the connections which the party has to Venezuela and also adds to the grave concerns for Guyana’s sovereignty, democracy and vital international partnerships, especially given the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-sanctioned Nazar Mohamed’s visits to the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown.

Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd’s summoning of the Venezuelan Ambassador was not because an “ordinary citizen” was going to the embassy but because of the previous alarms raised by members of the United States (US) Congress.

The connection between Mohamed, his son Azruddin, who was also sanctioned by the U.S. and is a presidential hopeful and Venezuela was first flagged by members of the United States Congress.

Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar said, “We remain deeply concerned about efforts to undermine democracy in Guyana… Individuals sanctioned for illicit activities must not be allowed to jeopardise this vital relationship.”

Meanwhile, Congressman Carlos Gimenez accused the Maduro regime of backing “pro-Maduro puppet candidate Azruddin Mohamed,” pointing to his status as a sanctioned individual by OFAC.

Recalling these alarms raised by members of the U.S congress, Dr Jagdeo said that they would not have made such pronouncements without thorough briefings from their respective intelligence agencies.

After Minister Todd’s revelations, Azruddin in a statement issued on the Team Mohamed’s Facebook page, denied visiting the Venezuelan Embassy. He also denied applying for a visa to travel to Venezuela.

In June 2024, OFAC sanctioned Nazar, his son Azruddin, and their businesses, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Hadi’s World, and Team Mohamed’s Racing, alleging that between 2019 and 2023 they had under-declared over 10,000 kilogrammes of gold exports, defrauding Guyana of more than US$50 million in taxes.

Azruddin, now the public face of his newly formed WIN political party, has been repeatedly linked by U.S. officials to illicit gold smuggling and money laundering operations tied to Venezuela.

With Guyana’s ongoing case before the International Court of Justice, and national elections approaching, the government has reaffirmed that it would remain vigilant and proactive to prevent any external attempt to destabilise the nation.

This also comes at a time when the U.S. has intensified it’s criticisms of the Maduro regime, which has been accused of perpetuating narco-terror in the region.