Latest news with #NicolásMaduro
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Hugo Carvajal: Venezuelan ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terror charges
Venezuela's former head of military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal - also known as "El Pollo", or The Chicken - has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US. US officials accused the 65-year-old of forming part of a drug-smuggling organisation made up of high-ranking members of the Venezuelan guilty plea is the latest twist in Carvajal's demise from feared spymaster to convict via his ignominious arrest in a hideout in Madrid, where he had been spotted despite donning a fake moustache and a who was a close ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, is thought to hold key information about Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro. Carvajal was part of the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) - named after the suns which feature on the lapels of high-ranking officers in the Venezuelan military - according to a statement released by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where Carvajal was due to go on trial in the coming days."For years, he and other officials in the Cartel de Los Soles used cocaine as a weapon - flooding New York and other American cities with poison," the statement added that he partnered with left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in neighbouring Colombia, whom he supplied with weapons and whose cocaine shipments to the US via Venezuela he received millions of dollars in payment in exchange, according to US Attorney Jay Clayton. The fact that Carvajal changed his plea to "guilty" two years after he denied all of the charges brought against him led to speculation he may have reached a deal for a lower sentence in exchange for providing incriminating information about the Maduro's US charged Maduro with "narco-terrorism" five years ago and has imposed sanctions on him and his inner circle. As former spy chief, Carvajal is thought to have access to a wealth of material about the current and past Venezuelan between Carvajal and Maduro soured in 2017, when anti-government protests that Carvajal spoke out in favour of swept the country. They broke down completely in 2019, when Carvajal urged the military to back opposition leader Juan Guaidó's attempt to overthrow Maduro. When the military remained loyal to Maduro, Carvajal fled to several years during which he was on the run, he was finally tracked down to an apartment in Madrid and extradited to the US.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Venezuela spymaster pleads guilty to narcoterrorism charge ahead of trial
A former Venezuelan spymaster who was close to the country's late President Hugo Chávez pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug trafficking charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a Manhattan federal court. Retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal was extradited from Spain in 2023 after more than a decade on the run from U.S. law enforcement, including included a botched arrest in Aruba while he was serving as a diplomat representing current Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government. Carvajal pleaded guilty in court to all four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism, in an indictment accusing him of leading a cartel made up of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to 'flood' the U.S. with cocaine in cahoots with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia. In a letter this week to defense counsel, prosecutors said they believe federal sentencing guidelines call for Carvajal to serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison to a maximum of life. Nicknamed 'El Pollo,' Spanish for 'the chicken,' Carvajal advised Chávez for more than a decade. He later broke with Marudo, Chávez's handpicked successor, and threw his support behind the U.S.-backed political opposition — in dramatic fashion. In a recording made from an undisclosed location, Carvajal called on his former military cohorts to rebel against a month into mass protests seeking to replace Maduro with lawmaker Juan Guaidó, whom the first Trump administration recognized as Venezuela's legitimate leader as head of the democratically elected National Assembly. The hoped-for barracks revolt never materialized, and Carvajal fled to Spain. In 2021 he was captured hiding out in a Madrid apartment after he defied a Spanish extradition order and disappeared. Carvajal's straight-up guilty plea, without any promise of leniency, could be part of a gamble to win credit down the line for cooperating with U.S. efforts against a top foreign adversary that sits atop the world's largest petroleum reserves. Although Carvajal has been out of power for years, his backers say he can provide potentially valuable insights on the inner workings of the spread of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua into the U.S. and spying activities of the Maduro-allied governments of Cuba, Russia, China and Iran. He may also be angling for Trump's attention with information about voting technology company Smartmatic. One of Carvajal's deputies was a major player in Venezuela's electoral authority when the company was getting off the ground. Florida-based Smartmatic says its global business was decimated when Fox News aired false claims by Trump allies that it helped rig the 2020 U.S. election. One of the company's Venezuelan founders was later charged in the U.S. in a bribery case involving its work in the Philippines. Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer in Latin America who oversaw commandos that hunted al-Qaida, sent a public letter this week to Trump urging the Justice Department to delay the start of Carvajal's trial so officials can debrief the former spymaster. 'He's no angel, he's a very bad man,' Berntsen said in an interview. 'But we need to defend democracy.' Carvajal's attorney, Robert Feitel, said prosecutors announced in court this month that they never extended a plea offer to his client or sought to meet with him. 'I think that was an enormous mistake,' Feitel told The Associated Press while declining further comment. 'He has information that is extraordinarily important to our national security and law enforcement.' In 2011, prosecutors alleged that Carvajal used his office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms (12,300 pounds) of cocaine aboard a jet from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006. In exchange he accepted millions of dollars from drug traffickers, prosecutors said. He allegedly arranged the shipment as one of the leaders of the so-called Cartel of the Suns — a nod to the sun insignias affixed to the uniforms of senior Venezuelan military officers. The cocaine was sourced by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization and which for years took refuge in Venezuela as it sought to overthrow Colombia's government. Carvajal 'exploited his position as the director of Venezuela's military intelligence and abandoned his responsibility to the people of Venezuela in order to intentionally cause harm to the United States,' DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said. 'After years of trying to evade law enforcement, (he) will now likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison.' ___ Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Former Venezuelan spy chief pleads guilty in U.S. drug case, ties Maduro to gangs, Iran
Former Venezuelan military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal has reached an agreement to plead guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in the U.S., in a deal that leaves open the possibility of his cooperation with law enforcement in exchange for a reduced sentence. The agreement, finalized just days before his trial was set to begin in New York, signals a potentially pivotal moment in the U.S. government's long-running efforts to expose and dismantle what officials have described as a criminal state operating at the highest levels of power in Venezuela. 'Today's guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to holding accountable foreign officials who abuse their power to poison our citizens. I commend the extraordinary efforts of our law enforcement allies in the DEA's Special Operations Division and our other law enforcement partners here and abroad,' US. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a press statement. 'Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios was once one of the most powerful men in Venezuela. For years, he and other officials in the Cartel de Los Soles used cocaine as a weapon—flooding New York and other American cities with poison.' The general had been charged with participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy — which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison — conspiring to import cocaine into the United States (minimum 10 years, maximum life), and using, carrying, and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in connection with those conspiracies (minimum 30 years, maximum life). Carvajal's plea follows a series of behind-the-scenes negotiations and comes after claims by the once-powerful general that Veenzuelan leader Nicolás Maduro personally oversees a sprawling transnational criminal enterprise. According to sources familiar with the case, Carvajal has offered to provide U.S. authorities with documentation and testimony implicating Maduro and other top Venezuelan officials in a range of illegal activities—from drug smuggling and election tampering to espionage operations and the weaponization of street gangs. He also claims to have evidence detailing the deep and ongoing ties between Venezuela and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ties, Carvajal says, include cooperation in security, intelligence and financial transactions designed to evade U.S. sanctions. The Iran-Venezuela relationship—long dismissed by some as symbolic—is, in fact, more operational than most people suspect, Carvajal warns. Nicknamed El Pollo ('The Chicken'), Carvajal was once one of the most influential figures in Venezuela's intelligence apparatus. As head of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate, he had access to some of the country's most sensitive state secrets and maintained direct contact with senior figures in both the Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro governments. A staunch Chávez supporter for much of his career, Carvajal eventually broke with Maduro and voiced support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó in 2019. Following his political defection, Carvajal vanished from public view, eluding extradition for several years while seeking political asylum in Europe. Spanish authorities arrested him in 2019, and after protracted legal battles and diplomatic wrangling he was extradited to the United States in 2022 to face federal charges stemming from his alleged role in Venezuela's so-called 'Cartel of the Suns'—a term used to describe a military-led drug trafficking syndicate embedded within the Venezuelan state. Prosecutors allege that Carvajal played a key role in coordinating large-scale cocaine shipments to the United States, using his official position to protect narcotics operations and facilitate deals with foreign insurgent groups, most notably Colombia's FARC. According to confidential sources familiar with his plea discussions, Carvajal has told U.S. officials that Maduro was directly involved in the creation of Tren de Aragua, Venezuela's most powerful and feared street gang. Originating in a prison in Aragua state, the group has evolved into a sprawling criminal network engaged in extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, arms smuggling and murder. In a series of statements, Carvajal claims that Maduro empowered Tren de Aragua to act as a paramilitary arm of the state—an unofficial enforcement squad tasked with silencing dissent, intimidating opposition figures and generating illicit revenue. Even more alarming, Carvajal claims that members of the gang were sent abroad, including to the United States, to continue their operations and serve as a destabilizing force within migrant communities. The presence of the gang in countries such as Colombia, Chile, Peru and the U.S. has been documented by law enforcement agencies and migration researchers. In recent months, American officials have expressed growing concern over the gang's footprint in cities with large Venezuelan populations, such as Miami, Houston and New York. Carvajal has also reportedly provided details about systemic efforts by the Venezuelan government to manipulate electoral outcomes. He alleges that the 2018 presidential election, which returned Maduro to power amid widespread international condemnation, was rigged using electronic voting machines that could be tampered with remotely. That election was boycotted by large segments of the Venezuelan opposition and declared fraudulent by the Organization of American States, the European Union and numerous Western governments, including the United States. Carvajal claims to have firsthand knowledge of how the regime controlled both the software and hardware behind the vote, turning the democratic process into a preordained spectacle. Such assertions, if backed by documentary evidence or credible corroboration, could reignite calls for international accountability and further isolate the Maduro government, which has spent years trying to normalize relations with global powers and ease economic sanctions. Perhaps the most explosive of Carvajal's allegations involves Venezuelan espionage operations against the United States. According to the former general, the Maduro regime has maintained a clandestine intelligence network aimed at infiltrating U.S. institutions, tracking dissidents and gathering sensitive information on American policy toward Latin America. While the presence of Venezuelan intelligence operatives in the U.S. has long been suspected, Carvajal's offer to name names and provide operational details could give the FBI and other federal agencies unprecedented insight into how Venezuela's spy apparatus functions abroad. He has reportedly expressed willingness to share this information 'in any format' the U.S. government deems appropriate, including classified briefings or sealed testimony. Despite his checkered past, Carvajal's potential value as a cooperating witness is significant. For years, U.S. law enforcement has struggled to pierce the opaque structures of the Venezuelan state. Carvajal's decades inside the inner circles of power give him a unique vantage point on how criminality became institutionalized under Maduro — and, before him, Chávez. Still, there are reasons for caution. Carvajal has a history of shifting loyalties and politically motivated statements. Some of his claims, while plausible, would require independent verification. Prosecutors are expected to corroborate any intelligence he provides with other sources before taking further legal or diplomatic steps based on his information. If deemed credible, however, his cooperation could dramatically expand the U.S. government's understanding of Venezuela's deep state—and potentially serve as a catalyst for new sanctions, prosecutions, or international pressure campaigns aimed at isolating the regime. As part of the plea deal, Carvajal could receive a considerable sentence reduction if he provides 'substantial assistance' to U.S. investigations. The precise terms of his cooperation remain under seal, and it remains unclear when—or if—he will appear publicly to testify against former allies.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Venezuelan Bolivar in freefall: Maduro locks Up economists, blocks Dollar sites to hide the damage
Why are economists being arrested in Venezuela? Government cracks down on websites Live Events FAQs The Venezuelan currency is crashing again, but instead of fixing the economy, President Nicolás Maduro is arresting economists, shutting down websites that show real dollar rates, and trying to hide how bad things are getting. The economy is falling apart in Venezuela, and inflation is getting worse every month, according to the government is now arresting people, economists, analysts, and website workers, who talk about how bad the economy is. At least 8 people have been arrested recently, including former finance minister Rodrigo Cabezas, 68, who disappeared after getting arrested, according to the people were released after a few hours, but others are still locked up without lawyers or contact with families. The Venezuelan Finance Observatory reported inflation hit 229% in May 2025. That's super high. Meanwhile, Venezuela's Central Bank stopped publishing inflation numbers in Oct economist Jose Guerra said the government is printing tons of money with nothing to back it. Money supply jumped 250% by May, which caused even more inflation. Popular sites like Monitor Dolar, which gave black-market exchange rates people actually use, were forced to shut down on May 27, as per after that, 20 people connected to the site were arrested, showing how serious the crackdown is. El Dorado, a cryptocurrency exchange many used for rates, also shut down operations in Venezuela because of fear. Now people are using platforms like Binance to trade secretly and avoid government Bolivar lost over 100% of its value vs. the U.S. dollar just since January, it now takes way more bolivars to buy 1 dollar. Instead of fixing the economy, the government arrested 56 people in June 2025 for using black-market dollar rates, as per the arrested were three top economists, including two from the National Academy of Economic Sciences and a university dean. Two staff members from the Observatory were also arrested, and no one knows where they hyperinflation hit in 2017, Venezuela stopped giving out real info like GDP or debt stats. They only briefly resumed before shutting it all down again in late 2024. Official exchange rate was 105 bolivars per dollar in May 2025, but the black-market rate was 139, so people don't trust the official one, as stated by the April, Maduro gave himself emergency powers to control the economy. He can now change taxes, force companies to sell goods, and control how money is government says it's trying to cut imports and attract investment, but experts say none of this will fix inflation or restore trust. Even with all these new controls, the currency is still crashing, and regular people are suffering the most, as stated by the government is printing too much money and inflation is out of stop people from seeing the real dollar rate and how weak the Bolivar has become.
20-06-2025
- Politics
Panama and Venezuela to restore consular services in each other's countries
PANAMA CITY -- Panama and Venezuela will restore consular services in each other's countries in the coming days, Panama's Foreign Affairs Ministry said late Thursday, nearly a year after Panama suspended them following questionable Venezuelan elections that reelected President Nicolás Maduro. 'Due to the imperative need to attend to the consular issues of their citizens,' the two countries agreed to reactivate their consular services, the ministry said in a statement. The diplomatic break came July 29, 2024, when Panama pulled its diplomats from Caracas and announced it was suspending relations with Venezuela. It followed elections the day before in which the opposition declared fraud and offered evidence that Maduro had been roundly defeated. Panama President José Raúl Mulino gave his support to the Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who had visited Panama weeks earlier. Venezuela suspended flights between both countries, including those by Panamanian national carrier Copa Airlines. Flights were reestablished May 22 this year.
