Why Nicolás Maduro did not travel to Buenos Aires and preferred to remain a refugee in Caracas

Nicolas Maduro will continue to take refuge in Caracas. The origin of his decision is not, as he said, in conspiracies of the “neo-fascist right” or in ambushes that he could suffer while passing through Buenos Aires to participate in the 7th CELAC Summit. The fear of boarding a plane Conviasa to deposit it in the Argentina lies in the cause of Southern District of New Yorkwhere the crimes for drug trafficking that weigh on him are described one by one.

From the detailed enumeration of the crimes imputed to him, the Department of State The US issued an international alert to provide information on the whereabouts of the head of the Chavista regime in case he leaves his country, something he rarely does. USA It is behind the Ripe -and other officials- as one of the leaders of the poster of the sunsan organization dedicated to drug trafficking that operates in Venezuela. Also because of his connections with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), also dedicated to drug trafficking.

In the same international notice that is still in effect, the US government offers a reward of 15 million dollars for those who could offer relevant information about Maduro that led to his arrest. Whoever provided data should appear at US consulates or embassies to notify the DEA offices and they start the pertinent extradition mechanisms.

The alarms were formally activated in the Embassy of the United States in Buenos Aires from that Patricia Bullrich make a complaint and a communication there so that the necessary mechanisms are activated to detain Ripe. That information about an ongoing complaint reached the Miraflores Palace in Caracaswhere they began to assess the danger that the head of the regime would set foot in the Argentine capital without all the guarantees.

For that reason, Ripe He has not visited South American countries for five years. He fears that a court order and an extradition request will put him behind bars. Only travel to friendly countries where democratic institutions are compromised or do not exist: Russia, Iran, China, Cubaare their safest destinations.

In Argentina, Alberto Fernandez He was enthusiastic about his arrival: “You are more than invited”, he said a few days ago when he was asked about the presence of the Venezuelan dictator in Buenos Aires.

Details of the cause

In March 2020, the Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Bermanpresented a file detailing one by one the charges for drug trafficking against officials and former officials of the Venezuelan regime, and members of the Colombian guerrilla group FARC.

Specifically, the US court concluded that “from at least 1999 to 2020, Nicolás Maduro Moros, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, alias ‘El Pollo’, Cliver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, Luciano Marín Arango, alias ‘Iván Márquez’ , and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, alias ‘Jesús Santrich’, participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorist conspiracy between the Venezuelan Los Soles Cartel and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).”

For the Manhattan prosecutor, Maduro’s role was essential to the narco-terrorist activities of the Los Soles Cartel. According to the file, the dictator “helped direct and ultimately lead the Los Soles Cartel as he gained power in Venezuela.”

“Under the leadership of Maduro Moros and others, the Los Soles Cartel sought not only to enrich its members and increase its power, but also to ‘flood’ the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug’s harmful and addictive effects on users. from this country. Thus, while most drug trafficking organizations in South and Central America have tried to retract their role in importing narcotics into the United States in an effort to avoid US prosecution, the Cartel de Los Soles, under the leadership of Maduro Moros and others, prioritized the use of cocaine as a weapon against the United States and the importation of as much cocaine as possible,” adds the forceful accusation against the head of the Venezuelan dictatorship.

The North American justice detailed that, while Maduro and the leadership of the Chavista regime pursued the objectives described above, they also negotiated shipments of several tons of cocaine produced by the FARC. He also ordered the Los Soles Cartel to provide military-grade weapons to Colombian guerrillas, and coordinated with other countries -including Honduras- “to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.” As part of that alliance, the Venezuelan dictator asked FARC leaders “to train a group of unsanctioned militias that functioned, in essence, as a unit of the armed forces for the Los Soles Cartel.”

For its part, while the Colombian government sought a peace agreement with the FARC, The guerrillas agreed with the leaders of the Los Soles Cartel to “transfer some of their operations to Venezuela.” In this way, both cartels began to “dispatch processed cocaine from Venezuela to the United States through transshipment points in the Caribbean and Central America, such as Honduras.”

“In order to achieve safe passage for large shipments of cocaine transiting Venezuela, members and associates of the FARC and the Los Soles Cartel paid bribes, which ultimately benefited Nicolás Maduro,” and the rest of the accused.

The court of the United States affirms that Maduro and Cabello were the ones who led the narco-terrorist conspiracy with the FARC.

At the end of 2013, months after Maduro’s arrival in Miraflores following the death of Hugo Chávez, the Los Soles Cartel dispatched 1.3 tons of cocaine on a commercial flight from the Maiquetía Airport in Caracas to the Charles de Gaulle, from Paris. The cargo was seized by the French authorities. After what happened, the dictator canceled his participation in the United Nations General Assembly in New York alleging alleged death threats against him. However, according to the New York prosecutor’s indictment, Maduro called Cabello and “El Pollo” Carvajal to an emergency meeting to stress to them that they should not have used the Maiquetía international airport for drug trafficking after the 2006 seizure of Mexico. He told them at the time, the Cartel was to use its other well-established routes and locations for cocaine shipments instead.

Before public opinion -national and international- supposed efforts to fight drug trafficking had to be shown, for which reason Maduro ordered the arrests of Venezuelan military officers.

But what really hit the image of a regime that was already perpetrating numerous human rights violations in Venezuela was the arrest in 2015 of Efraín Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, Maduro’s nephews. The men were detained in Haiti in a Drug Enforcement Administration operation and immediately taken to New York for trial. They were convicted the following year in a highly charged case that took a hard look at US allegations of drug trafficking at the highest levels of the Maduro administration.

“During recorded meetings with the sources, Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas explained that they were at ‘war’ with the United States, described the Los Soles Cartel, spoke of a connection to a ‘FARC commander’ who was ‘allegedly high-ranking’, and indicated that they were trying to raise $20 million in drug proceeds to support a campaign by the Venezuelan first lady – and wife of Maduro – in connection with a late 2015 election for the National Assembly of Venezuela. Campo Flores referred to Maduro Moros as his ‘father’ and affirmed that ‘what we want is for him to take control of the National Assembly again,’ ”the accusation of the North American justice details.

“The scope and magnitude of the reported drug trafficking was only possible because Maduro and others corrupted Venezuela’s institutions and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges. As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants had the express intent to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon. Although Maduro and other members of the cartel held high positions in the political and military leadership of Venezuela, the conduct described in the Indictment was not an act of State or a service to the Venezuelan people. As alleged, the defendants betrayed the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuelan institutions to line their pockets with drug money,” said prosecutor Berman during the formal presentation of the charges.

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