"Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson is aware of an application for international arrest against him, and that the Interpol office in Washington received the application (…) However, neither before or after, he kept his promise to the Argentinean justice by means of his attorneys that he would give a full explanation," said Argentinean daily newspaper La Nación, two weeks after he tried to bring in the country an undeclared amount of USD 800,000.

Antonini was traveling along with four senior officials with state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa).

"In Venezuela, they claim that Antonini sought refuge eight days ago in Fort Lauderdale, where he contacted agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Some say that he joined the witness security program." However, neither version had been confirmed, added the newspaper.

The bench warrant against Antonini, the daily stated, "is particularly sensitive, because Antonini has a direct, indirect or incidental link with the Venezuela of (President Hugo) Chávez and Argentina ahead of presidential election, and because he holds the US citizenship."

Antonini never filled the application form for foreign currency at the authority responsible for enforcing the stringent exchange control prevailing in the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez. That was confirmed by Manuel Barroso, the chair of the Foreign Exchange Management Committee (Cadivi).