Venezuela crisis: How Maduro 'spent THOUSANDS of state funds on Cuban rituals'

He wrote: "The people should also know that your religious sacrifice rituals in Cuba were paid by your minister of finance, who on at least one occasion sent a briefcase with $500,000 in cash to Havana in a PDVSA plane."

Mr Maduro was accused of performing Santeria rituals in Cuba while leaving ordinary citizens with desperate shortages back in Venezuela.

Santeria is a popular Cuban religion – literally meaning the “worship of saints” – that combines Roman Catholicism with elements of the Yoruba tradition.

Mr Carvajal continued: “How dare you call yourself Christian when you follow any belief you come across?

“I suppose that you must by some means justify all the atrocities you have committed against the Venezuelan people.”

Mr Maduro was raised as a Roman Catholic and claims to maintain his Christian beliefs – but some fear his relationship with Cuba is religious as well as political.