US Indicts Venezuela’s Maduro on Narco-Terrorism Crimes
HAVANA TIMES – The United States has charged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials with narco-terrorism crimes, Attorney General William Barr announced on Thursday, reported dpa news.
The indictments from prosecutors in Miami and New York, newly unsealed by the Justice Department, also include money-laundering and drug-trafficking charges.
Maduro is accused of a conspiracy involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla movement, working “to flood the United States with cocaine,” Barr said in a virtual news conference.
Maduro allowed the FARC to use Venezuela as a safe haven from where to fly cocaine into Central America, with the air bridge having grown five-fold in the last four years, Barr said. Drugs were also shipped to the Caribbean via a maritime route.
“We estimate that somewhere between 200 and 250 metric tonnes of cocaine are shipped out of Venezuela by these routes,” equating to “30 million lethal doses,” the attorney general said.
The action comes after years-long investigations by federal authorities in Washington, New York and Florida.
Barr also announced a 15-million-dollar reward for information leading to the arrest or prosecution of Maduro.
The charging of a head of state is highly unusual and marks an escalation of the US government’s campaign to pressure Maduro to step down after his controversial re-election in 2018 and presiding over an economic meltdown that has caused a mass exodus from Venezuela.
The US and dozens of other countries recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Maduro is supported by Venezuela’s military and by China, Russia and Cuba.
You would think that the USA would be busy with other matters at the moment…..??
Maduro’s nephews got caught dealing cocaine and bragging to cartel members they use presidential hangers and aircraft.
Diosdado Cabello has been fingered by defectors of his ring leading the drug operations.
Hope Maduro and Cabello get what they deserve long prison terms.
Curt comments above “I am no fan of Maduro and don’t know if he is guilty of drug trafficking or not”. Really Curt? Hahahahaha!
Olgaintamales, you are not dealing with a full deck. You obviously wish your fellow a Cuban people dead or maimed from an invasion. It will never happen because every other country in the world, except for Isreal would immediately stop trade with the US!
Military intervention en Venezuela would be great and in Cuba as well to remove the Castro’s dynasty.
The US failed with their obsession with getting rid of Maduro and replacing him with Juan Guaido. I am no fan of Maduro and don’t know if he is guilty of drug trafficking or not but this is reminiscent of the US invasion of Panama to capture Manuel Noriega back in 1989. It wasn’t so much the drug trafficking that Noriega allegedly did, but because Noriega stopped giving information to the Reagan Administration. Trump needs those 29 Florida electoral votes. A military invasion of Venezuela to oust Maduro is their only hope
Yes! It’s about time. The people of Venezuela need democracy.