Nicolás Maduro accuses Cardinal Porras of conspiring against José Gregorio Hernández

Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, accused Cardinal Baltazar Porras of conspiring to prevent the canonization of Saint José Gregorio Hernández.

This October 19, along with Santa Carmen Rendiles and 5 other new saints, the “doctor of the poor” was canonized by Pope Leo XIV.

Maduro is the head of government in Venezuela but is accused, at the national and international level, of commit fraud in the presidential elections on July 28, 2024, where he was allegedly re-elected for a third six-year period.

Furthermore, accusations of drug trafficking and terrorism by the United States government fall on the questioned Venezuelan president, pointing to him as the head of a criminal organization known as the Cartel of the Suns.

It also weighs on Maduro a reward of 50 million US dollarsoffered by the State Department “for information leading to the arrest or conviction” of the Chavista leader, this being the largest reward offered for the capture of a criminal in the history of the United States.

The attack that Maduro made against the Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas is part of an extensive history of abuses and threats by Chavismo against the Catholic Church in Venezuelaa custom that seems to intensify on the occasion of the canonization of the country’s first two saints.

“There were many people who conspired from the high Curia against José Gregorio,” said the Venezuelan president in a television showon October 20.

“Some priests, like Baltazar Porras, dedicated (sic) his life to conspiring against José Gregorio Hernández. I say it with first and last name: Baltazar Porras dedicated his entire life so that José Gregorio would not arrive, but Baltazar Porras has been defeated by God, by the people and today José Gregorio is a saint despite you and yours,” said the president, who did not attend the canonization ceremony in the Vatican.

Cardinal Porras’s entourage told ACI Prensa that the cardinal will not respond to Maduro’s accusations.

The reaction of the Chavista leader comes after last week, at an event held at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Cardinal Porras asked for the release of all political prisoners in Venezuela, which to date number more than 800, according to the organization. Criminal Forum.

“We live in a morally unacceptable situation; the decrease in the exercise of citizen freedom, the growth of poverty, militarization as a form of government that incites violence and introduces it as part of daily life, corruption and the lack of autonomy of public powers and the lack of respect for the popular will make up a panorama that does not help peaceful coexistence or overcome the structural deficiencies of society,” said the Venezuelan cardinal.

The Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, presided over a Mass of thanksgiving for the canonization of the first two Venezuelan saints, this Monday, October 20, in which he also denounced the existence of “unjust prisons” and “oppressed” in the country.

The political agenda of the Venezuelan government in Rome has been questioned by the media during these days close to the canonization, with critics and activists suggesting that its presence in the Vatican is an attempt to project a positive image of national pride and unity under the Maduro regime.

At the same event held at the Lateranense, a Venezuelan Catholic journalist was attacked by a member of the Venezuelan government delegation present at the activity.

Shortly before the canonization Mass on October 19, Cardinal Porras assured feeling “deeply happy” and cataloged the event as a “historic moment” for all of Venezuela.

“I thank God for allowing me to share it with all of you,” the archbishop emeritus said then.