Venezuela & ALBA News # 572, 9.15.2025:
 Venezuela & ALBA News # 572, 9.15.2025: DEA Agent caught with Cocaine in Drug Boat; President Maduro letter to Trump; US Role in Venezuela and Drugs; Cuba Call for Solidarity with Venezuela TeleSur: Venezuela catches DEA Agent with Cocaine in Drug Boat Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of attempting to stage a false-flag operation against Venezuela. “In a go-fast boat, Venezuelan forces found 3,680 kilos of cocaine, a GPS device, two radios, 2,400 liters of fuel and 100 sacks of cocaine hydrochloride,” the minister said and recalled that Venezuela has seized 60 tons of drugs this year, the largest amount confiscated since 2010. Cabello said the destabilizing action was foiled after Venezuelan authorities arrested four people who were trying to traffic drugs and fuel. “This is how you prove a fact — not by bombing a vessel,” Cabello said, referring to a U.S. attack on a boat in the Caribbean that was allegedly carrying drugs. “We have fully identified those responsible, but we did not kill them. We have no authority to impose the death penalty on anyone,” he emphasized. Venezuela President Maduro letter to President Trump, September 6, 2025 Venezuela Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez: We are forming the People’s Liberation Army She stated that “we are forming the true army of the people of Simón Bolívar, the army that crossed our borders more than 200 years ago to liberate the Great Homeland, to guarantee dignity, self-determination, independence, and freedom,” but that “today is more active than ever to defend Venezuela.” The senior official then described the “The Barracks Go to the People Across the Country” event as historic. The event saw the men and women of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces deploy to the communes and the 5,336 Communal Districts to prepare Venezuelans to defend peace. She emphasized that through the “Independence 200” Plan, President Nicolás Maduro Moros has called on the people to actively resist and permanently offensive. “Venezuelans are already in a process of preparation. Today, more than ever, this process shows the world the People’s Army,” she affirmed. President Maduro added, “The US empire threatens the homeland of Simón Bolívar, and the homeland of Simón Bolívar responds: we are more united than ever to safeguard our right to sovereignty, peace, and the right to life and work for the people of Venezuela,” he said. “The people of Venezuela say to the empire: enough of your threats… The empire fears us because we are not afraid. It has never been able to defeat us and will never be able to. If there is one thing that we Venezuelans are, we are tough in the face of any difficulty. If we are threatened, we get even tougher.” Revolutionary Government of Cuba: Urgent need to prevent military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela The US accumulation and increase of military resources and personnel in the Caribbean Sea, the use of force to attack civilian vessels and kill their crews, and the unjustified interception and detention of a ship, confirm the hostile and irresponsible nature of the ongoing operation. Added to this is the dissemination of psychological warfare messages by the US government in an attempt to legitimize these actions in the eyes of public opinion under the crude pretext that Venezuela represents a threat to U.S. national security and the well-being of its citizens. The real objective of these actions is to take control of Venezuela’s oil and resources. Cuba has repeatedly warned that the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean Sea in recent weeks constitutes an act of provocation and is intended to trigger a military conflict that would force the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. TeleSur: Nicaragua Reaffirms Its Unbreakable Union With Venezuela in the Face of Imperial Aggression In an emotional and forceful message addressed to the constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, the government of Nicaragua reaffirmed this September 20th its union “beyond speeches and communiqués” with the Bolivarian Republic, highlighting a brotherhood forged in the common struggle against imperialism and the aggressions that threaten the sovereignty of both peoples. The message emphasizes that both countries are children of the great liberators of Our America: Simón Bolívar, José Martí, Augusto Sandino, Fidel Castro, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and Hugo Chávez, whom they call “Eternal Commander.” Nicaragua, through this statement, reinforces its role as a key actor in the regional resistance and demonstrates with facts and words that unity between sister countries is the fundamental pillar for advancing in the defense of a free, just, and sovereign Latin America and Caribbean. Orinoco Tribune: YouTube closes President Nicolás Maduro’s account On September 19, the video streaming platform YouTube closed the channel of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro without warning. The channel had more than 233,000 subscribers and was used to share the Venezuelan government’s perspective.In a press conference on September 15, President Maduro accused the United States of violating international law by allowing vessels to pass through the exclusive economic zones of Caribbean countries, including Venezuela. The news agency Telesur reported that the account’s deletion occurred “without explanation,” noting that the measure occurred in the context of hybrid warfare operations by the United States against Venezuela. MintPressNews: Targeting Venezuela To justify war on Venezuela, the US labels President Maduro “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.” Yet, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report 2025 explains that cocaine — the drug most associated with South America — is primarily produced in Colombia, Peru, or Bolivia and transported via ports in Ecuador to the US. Venezuela is not mentioned at all in the 98-page document, which catalogs producers, consumers, suppliers and supply lines of drugs. The Drug Enforcement Agency’s own 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment report essentially agrees with the U.N. Indeed, the 90-page document touches on Venezuela in only two paragraphs on a single page. The section addresses Tren de Aragua’s (TDA) criminal activities, but does not attempt to link them to the Venezuelan government. A National Intelligence Council report concedes that: “The Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the US.” While Tren de Aragua might be far less powerful than it is often depicted, it at least exists, something which cannot be said for the Cartel of the Suns, the drug-running syndicate supposedly headed by Maduro himself. Experts largely agree that the group is fictional. President Maduro said most of the profits from the drug trade stay in the US. “85% of the billions from international drug trafficking each year are in banks in the US. That is where the cartel is; let them investigate and uncover it. There is $500 billion in the US banking system, in reputable banks. If they want to investigate a cartel, let them investigate the one up north. It is from the US that all drug trafficking is directed towards South America and the rest of the world. They also control the opium trade, and more. It is in the United States where the mafias are, where the real cartels operate.” Secretary of State Rubio, whose own family is deeply intertwined with the world of drug smuggling. Rubio’s brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, is a former drug runner who served 12 years in a Florida prison for crimes related to the smuggling and distribution of cocaine. Rubio maintains a close relationship with Cicilia: after the latter’s release from prison, he used his political position to pressure a Florida regulator to grant him a real estate license. Across much of Latin America, the Secretary of State has long been known by critics as “Narco Rubio.” In 2014, Juan Orlando Hernández came to power in Honduras following a U.S.-backed coup. He quickly began using his position to enrich himself, allying with the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Last year, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for distributing more than 400 tons of cocaine into the US. Throughout his crimes, the U.S. government supported his administration, working to ensure the left did not return to power. Going further back, the Reagan administration funded, trained and armed the Contra death squads in Nicaragua, in an attempt to overthrow the leftist Sandinista Party. 60 Minutes: The CIA’s Cocaine (1993) In the pre-Chavez era, when Venezuela was involved in smuggling cocaine, as part of US government drug trafficking. Ben Norton on the US’ Drug Operation against Venezuela, Operation Money Badger See also Leaked memo shows that US anti-drug agency sent spies to target Venezuelan officials The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spies on and tries to destabilize left-wing governments in Latin America. In these scandals, the DEA has collaborated with known criminals, including drug traffickers and money launderers, to launch sting operations against leftist politicians. Operation Money Badger was launched in 2013 to ensnare senior Venezuelan officials in corruption scandals. The DEA recruited a dream informant: a professional money launderer accused of fleecing $800 million from Venezuela’s foreign currency system through a fraudulent import scheme. Some of Maduro’s closest allies were targeted by the investigation, including businessman Alex Saab. Liberation News: Western imperialists are the real drug traffickers, not Venezuela Ihe 2025 UN World Drug Report reports that Venezuela’s contribution to the global drug trade is marginal. Meanwhile, the US has a long history in drug trafficking: a ship owned by JP Morgan Chase was seized in a $1.3 cocaine bust; Wachovia Bank “laundered money to buy large planes for the transport of hundreds of millions of dollars of cocaine” for Mexican cartels; families like the Astors, the Forbes, and the Delanos cashed in big on the opium trade to China; the US collaborated with drug trafficking groups as the Sicilian mafia, the South Vietnamese Army, anti-communist Afghan warlords, and the Nicaraguan Contras; Gary Webb famously exposed the CIA contra cocaine connection in his book “Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion”; opium production was high under the US influenced government of Afghanistan of the 1970s, decreased 10-fold by 2001 under the Taliban, and then increased 30-fold and more under the US; “The Fort Bragg Cartel” by Seth Harp exposed the deep ties between domestic and international drug running, murders, and impunity at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Upcoming Events September 23: Webinar: Defend Venezuela Against Trump’s Lies and Attacks! Blanca Eekhout, President of the Simon Bolivar Institute; Dozthor Zurlent September 25 (NYC): No to War against Humanity – Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Palestine with Venezuela Foreign Minister Yvan Gil and Blanca Eekhout,President of the Simon Bolivar Institute October 13, 2:30 pm ET: Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition monthly meeting on zoom. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com for zoom access October 19: webinar Miami Coalition to End the US Blockade Book Club will be studying Helen Yaffe’s “We Are Cuba!”pdf of book here contact endblockade305@gmail.com |
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