Despite the evidence handled by the United States and even Colombian intelligence, President Gustavo Petro denied the existence of the Cartel of the Suns, a criminal organization based in Venezuela that, according to Washington, is led by Nicolás Maduro Moros.
In a tweet, the president insisted that the person responsible for drug trafficking in Venezuela and Colombia is the so-called 'Drug Trafficking Junta'." The Cartel of the Suns does not exist, it is the fictitious excuse of the extreme right to overthrow governments that do not obey them. The passage of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela is controlled by the Drug Trafficking Junta and its bosses live in Europe and the Middle East," he indicated.
He then said that he proposed to Caracas and Washington that they cooperate to combat that enemy." I proposed to the US and Venezuela that together we destroy that cartel. It is about coordination, not submission."
The U.S. State Department has increased the reward for information leading to Maduro's capture to $50 million. The decision is linked to a court case opened in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing him of leading the drug trafficking network, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan officials.
The indictment alleges that, for more than two decades, this network coordinated the shipment of tons of cocaine from Venezuela and other countries in the region to the United States.
The accusation isn't limited to the president. It also implicates high-profile figures such as Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo's second-in-command, and Tareck El Aissami, former vice president and former oil minister.
The court document describes alliances with the former FARC, which allegedly provided armed protection, secure routes, and access to clandestine airstrips in Venezuelan and Colombian territory. Among the evidence presented are seizures of drug shipments, flight records, intercepted communications, and sworn statements that support the existence of systematic cooperation between state actors and criminal organizations.
"Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug trafficking organization comprised of senior Venezuelan officials. As he rose to power in Venezuela, Maduro engaged in a corrupt and violent narcoterrorist conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," the indictment states.
Likewise, according to a Colombian intelligence report obtained by EL TIEMPO, Venezuela, through the Cartel of the Suns, appears to be a key link between transnational organizations and armed groups, FARC dissident groups, and criminal groups across the continent.
Criticism of President Petro's position
This is not the first time that Gustavo Petro has given Maduro oxygen with statements."The one who controls cocaine trafficking through Venezuela is not the 'Cartel of the Suns', that is a lie like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and it only serves to invade countries. The one who controls cocaine trafficking through Venezuela are the same ones who control cocaine trafficking in Catatumbo, the plains and the Bogotá savannah, they are called the Drug Trafficking Board and the US government and European intelligence have had the information for a long time," he stated on August 20 on X.
Likewise, the president's position on the United States military deployment in the Caribbean and the coasts of Venezuela has been in defense of the neighboring country."The gringos are in a mess, if they think that invading Venezuela will solve their problem, they put Venezuela in the case of Syria, only that, with the problem, they drag it to Colombia the same, because these groups would go to seize the riches of the subsoil, minerals," said the president during the cabinet meeting on August 19.
"If the United States proves that the country is governed by the leader of a drug trafficking group, which is what the United States says about Maduro, then countries will have to take that with extreme caution. Because if clear evidence emerges that Maduro is indeed part of a criminal network, that surely calls into question the very wisdom of a criminal regime of that kind existing in Latin America," said Professor Sebastián Bitar.
