The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has eliminated most of the allusions to the Los Soles Cartel in the new indictment against the captured former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, which no longer names him as leader of the drug trafficking group, now characterized in the document as a “clientelism system”.
An indictment by an American grand jury in 2020 indicated that Maduro “helped manage and, ultimately, lead the Los Soles Cartel as it rose to power in Venezuela”, arguments repeated by President Donald Trump as justification for the anti-drug campaign he is carrying out in the Caribbean.
In August last year, when it raised the reward from US$25 million to US$50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction, the DOJ once again highlighted this link.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations such as Tren de Aragua, [Cartel de] Sinaloa and the Los Soles Cartel to bring lethal drugs and violence to our country,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi at the time.
However, in the new indictment modified by the prosecutor’s office hours after the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas by Washington forces, the previous text has its language softened and the allusions to the alleged cartel as a real organization are eliminated, although the accusations against the Venezuelan for drug trafficking are maintained.
The revised document indicates that Maduro “participates in, perpetuates and protects a culture of corruption in which powerful Venezuelan elites enrich themselves through drug trafficking and the protection of their drug trafficking partners.”
It also mentions that these profits flow to corrupt officials who “operate in a system of patronage run by those at the top, known as the Los Soles Cartel.”
This is one of only two mentions in the updated text of the criminal group, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and whose name comes from the sun-shaped insignia carried by Venezuelan generals. In contrast, in the 2020 indictment, the term appeared dozens of times.
On Monday (5), Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the charges they face in American federal court, at a hearing in a New York court.
Maduro is charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and explosive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and explosive devices.
Flores is accused of conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and explosive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and explosive devices.
