American lust would be one step away from a historic decision. This is what would be the first conviction against a member of the 'Cartel de los Soles', a Venezuelan group led by generals of the Armed Forces.dedicated to drug trafficking and illicit businesses.
(Also read: Nicolás Maduro's message to Piedad Córdoba after his death: 'Tireless warrior')
This decision brings a network of reactions that directly affect the Venezuelan Government, although it is likely that it will only maintain its speech of discredit against the United States, a country that points to President Nicolás. Maduro and the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Psuv), Diosdado Cabello, of being part of the leadership of this organization that created connections with the FARC and other irregular groups.
The 'Cartel of the Suns' has even been pointed out by the United Nations, alleging that drug trafficking infiltrated the Venezuelan army.
(Also read: Machado begins electoral campaign for undated presidential elections in Venezuela)
“There are indications that criminal groups have managed to infiltrate government security forces and have created an informal network known as the 'Cartel of the Suns,'” the agency said in February 2020; Then, in March, Donald Trump's administration filed criminal charges against Maduro and Cabello and offered a reward of $15 million for the former and $10 million for the latter.
“It is still not clear if the sentencing will include the issue of drug trafficking, as this would have a significant impact,” Zair Mundaraín, former deputy attorney general of Venezuela, now in exile, tells EL TIEMPO.
There are indications that criminal groups have managed to infiltrate government security forces and have created an informal network known as the 'Cartel of the Suns'.
Mundaraín explains that it is already known that Alcalá, who surrendered to US justice in Colombia in 2020, accepted his collaboration with the FARC for years and from the Government of Hugo Chávez, “but it is not clear and that is why they postponed the sentence, which has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.”
If the conviction is only for collaborating with the Colombian organization, “it will go unnoticed” within Venezuela, says Mundaraín, insisting that Chavismo will appeal to reiterate that “Alcalá is a traitor.”
But if, on the contrary, it includes drug trafficking, this could be a hard blow because “Chavismo was essentially clear that it could weaken the institutions and democracy of the region through the use of crime, collaborating with the FARC and also with the issue of drug shipments.”
(Read also: Why did corruption shake and stone the world of cryptocurrencies in Venezuela?)
“The sentence against Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones has been postponed, pending a hearing on February 27-28,” according to a statement from the court in New York.
In this visit, both the prosecution and the defense can present new evidence in order to help the judge make a decision about the sentence of the accused, which the past June 29, 2023, he pleaded guilty for his relations with the FARC, avoiding going to trial.
The prosecution is asking for 30 years in prison for the former military man, while the defense reduces it to a maximum of six. However, in a letter dated January 15, the prosecution also accuses this former military man of drug trafficking.
According to the prosecution, Alcalá “supported the FARC in a thousand ways for years.” In the aforementioned document, the prosecutor's office in the federal court in southern Manhattan assures that the accused protected the FARC and its drug trafficking partners from the “interference of the Venezuelan armed and police forces” and supplied weapons of war to some of the commanders.
Likewise, he protected the landing strips for cocaine shipments and made sure that the Venezuelan armed forces did not intercept them when they came from the FARC.
“In exchange, the defendant received millions of dollars in bribes” to help send drugs to the United States. The prosecution highlights his close relationship with Luciano Marín Arango, alias Iván Márquez, one of the leaders of the FARC and chief negotiator of the peace agreements that ended more than half a century of armed conflict with this guerrilla in 2016, although he was persecuted. for drug trafficking, he became commander of the dissident faction of said guerrilla.
The case against Alcalá is part of a broader one in which the former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo 'Pollo' Carvajal, detained in New York awaiting trial, after his extradition from Spain in July, is also accused of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. 2023. The US prosecutor's office links all of them, including Maduro, to the 'Suns cartel'.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
#Condemns #member #39Suns #cartel39 #hard #blow #Maduro