The US offers $ 15 million to capture Maduro after filing criminal charges against him

The United States Attorney General, William Barr, has accused Maduro of leading a genuine cartel made up of ‘Chavista’ officials that “has allowed Venezuela to be used as a safe place for drug trafficking” in the region.

The United States Government has filed criminal charges this Thursday against the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and other high-ranking officials of his Government for his alleged involvement in the cocaine trafficking towards the North American power.

In a press conference, the United States Attorney General, William Barr, has accused Maduro of leading a true cartel made up of “Chavista” officials that “has allowed Venezuela to be used as a safe place for drug trafficking” in the region.

According to the Justice Department, Maduro’s ties to drug trafficking go back to when he was foreign minister in the Hugo Chávez government. So, he made sure to “keep the door open between Colombia and Venezuela” for cocaine trafficking, he said.

This cartel would be based on an alliance between Venezuelan officials and the extinct Colombian FARC guerrilla, “one of the largest cocaine producers in the world.”

As Barr explained, Maduro would not only have worked with the FARC to obtain the cocaine, but also would have provided the armed group with the weapons and explosives necessary for its war against the Colombian State.

The attorney general has accused the Bolivarian president and his collaborators of using this cartel to “fill their pockets” and consolidate their power, as well as “use cocaine as a weapon” against Washington: “It has inundated the United States with cocaine.”

The accusation against the tenant of the Miraflores Palace for “narcoterrorism” is divided into four sheets – two filed in New York courts, one in Miami and the other in Washington.

It also reaches almost a dozen senior Venezuelan officials, including the vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and president of the Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello; Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino; and former director of military intelligence Hugo Armando Carvajal.

The president of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), Maikel Moreno, also stands out, who has been accused of “money laundering” at the international level and of “conspiracy”.

MILLION REWARDS

To ensure that these allegations take effect, the Justice and State departments have announced a reward of up to $ 15 million in exchange for any information leading to the capture of Maduro.

The Donald Trump Administration has also offered rewards of up to ten million dollars for the arrest of Cabello, Carvajal, the former military Clíver Alcalá Cordones and the economic vice president, Tareck El Aissami.

“The people of Venezuela deserve a transparent, responsible and representative government that serves the needs of their people,” said the head of US diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, on Twitter.

Asked how the United States intends to make this criminal accusation against Maduro and his collaborators effective, specifically about the possibility of carrying out a military intervention in Venezuela, Barr has refused to answer. “I am not going to speculate,” he said.

THE CARTEL OF THE SUNS

Although the attorney general has not defined it as such, the legal briefs obtained by the American press refer to the alleged criminal organization led by Maduro as the Cartel of the Suns.

The International Board for the Control of Narcotic Drugs (INCB), which is part of the United Nations system, already warned last February about a possible infiltration of drug trafficking in the Venezuelan security forces that would have taken shape through the Cartel of the Suns.

“There are indications that criminal groups in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have managed to infiltrate government security forces and have created an informal network known as the Cartel de los Soles to facilitate the entry and exit of illegal drugs,” said INCB. in its 2019 annual report.

Journalistic information had also pointed to the existence of a network of “Chavista” officials dedicated to drug trafficking, specifically pointing to Cabello and El Aissami, as the leaders of this Cartel of the Suns.

The United States has imposed numerous sanctions against Maduro and high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including Cabello and El Aissami, for drug trafficking, corruption, and human rights violations, but the criminal charges represent a qualitative leap in their offensive to achieve “free” elections in the Caribbean nation.

Washington is the main supporter of Juan Guaidó in the international community, whom he recognizes as “president in charge” of Venezuela. Guaidó, who took office in January 2019, has promised to evict Maduro from Miraflores to make way for a democratic transition.