Venezuelan President Maduro besieged by drug smuggling charges

By Roger F. Noriega - IASW

@rogernoriegaUSA

Venezuela watchers were puzzled by the absence of President Nicolás Maduro on Sunday from one of nation’s most solemn celebrations, commemorating the birth of revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar as well as key victories that sealed the country’s independence from Spain.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro gestures next to his wife Cilia Flores while they attend the celebrations to mark the 37th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Managua, Nicaragua July 19, 2016. Miraflores Palace.

Maduro’s back is against the wall due to the humanitarian crisis and political unrest that threaten his grip on power. Some speculated that Maduro skipped the ceremony to address infighting within his party by those seeking his ouster.

However, sources tell me that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were stunned by the publication this weekend of detailed drug trafficking accusations leveled by US federal prosecutors against their nephew and his close friend, who were arrested in Port au Prince last November. Dozens of international and Venezuelan newspapers published photos and recounted confessions by Efrain Campo and Francisco Flores. The men are in US custody awaiting trial for attempting to smuggle 800 kilograms (1,760 lbs) of cocaine into the United States.

As The Wall Street Journal reported, documents show that the two men were working with “El Gocho,” a drug dealer with ties to Colombia’s FARC guerrilla group. Court documents also show that the two claimed that their ties to Maduro and Flores made it easy for them to traffic drugs through Venezuela’s largest airport.

The appearance that members of President Maduro’s own household are personally involved in narcotrafficking and vulnerable to US prosecution has caused turmoil within his family and damaged his ability to govern. As additional details about this case and other pending investigationsare revealed, the broad criminal conspiracy involving senior officials of the Venezuelan regime will further discredit Maduro. These investigations implicate prominent Socialist Party leadership, including former National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello, in drug trafficking and money laundering through the so-called “Cartel de los Soles.” US authorities also are targeting corrupt individuals who are part of the regime’s repressive apparatus, including Venezuelan National Guard commander Nestor Reverol.

The brazen corruption by which Maduro loyalists enrich themselves further demoralizes the regime’s very poor supporters, who must struggle every day to acquire food, medicine, and other basic staples. Furthermore, the detailed accusations against Maduro’s extended family delegitimize his regime just as the international community is preparing to intervene to address the breakdown in democratic order. Although US diplomats have been coddling the regime in Caracas for years, US law enforcement and prosecutors are letting the chips fall where they may.