Captured in an American raid in Caracas, Venezuela’s former strongman faces charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking in New York. The testimony of the former Chavista intelligence chief, now a collaborator with US justice, could be decisive.
Nicolás Maduroformer strongman of Venezuelaappears today at 6.00 pm Italian time before a federal court in New York to answer very serious accusations: narcoterrorism, international drug trafficking and other federal crimesHis wife will be with him Cilia Flores who according to the American authorities would have played a primary role in drug trafficking. Immediately after the announcement of the arrest of the spouses Maduro, The Department of Justice has made public a superseding indictment, a sign of a judicial strategy that openly aims to convict the former Venezuelan president. Despite this apparent certainty from the administration, the media narrative on the alleged links between Maduro and the drug cartels has remained marked by skepticism for years. A mistrust fueled by the incendiary rhetoric of Donald Trump and also reflected in the polls, which show public opinion not inclined to believe the accusations. Yet, according to American investigators, the evidential framework is much more robust than the journalistic coverage and opinion polls suggest. This could be strengthened by the testimony of a former Chavismo loyalist, now a collaborator with US justice, whose role risks being decisive. Trump he has repeatedly argued that Maduro actively collaborated with drug cartels to facilitate the entry of narcotics into the United States. Accusations received coldly, also because they are intertwined with the controversial policy of combating illegal immigration carried out by the former president and his declared hostility towards the socialist regime in Caracas. The attacks ordered by the administration Trump against boats suspected of transporting drugs from Venezuela have attracted widespread criticism Washington. The Pentagon it released videos of the operations, but without ever making public direct evidence of drug trafficking.
For a part of the US media and political establishment, including fringes of the Republican front itself, the accusations against Maduro they were read as a diversionary maneuver or, in the worst case scenario, as a pretext for a regime change on the Iraqi model, a hypothesis that Trump had promised to avoid. On a judicial level, however, the accusatory system today appears much more complex than in the past. As he writes Newsweek the updated indictment goes well beyond that of the 2020, reconstructing in detail the volumes and methods of drug shipments, the routes used, the connections with the main international cartels and the use by Maduro, of the Venezuelan diplomatic network to facilitate the flow of drugs and money. A central element is represented by the position of a prominent co-defendant, who has already pleaded guilty to similar crimes and is awaiting sentencing. It’s Hugo Armando Carvajal Barriosformer head of Venezuelan military intelligence, diplomat and retired general. Key figure of the inner circle of Hugo Chavez, Carvajal he took part in the failed coup of 1992 which cost both of them prison. After Chávez’s electoral victory in 1998, according to the Department of Justice, Carvajal and other members of the so-called Cartel de los Soles allegedly systematically bribed the Venezuelan state apparatus — from the military to the judiciary — to allow the export of tons of cocaine to the United States. Having initially remained loyal to Maduro, Carvajal changed sides in 2019, when the economic collapse and the growth of the opposition have undermined the regime’s consensus. Accused of treason, he was expelled from the armed forces and forced to leave the country. Arrested later on an American warrant, he was extradited from Spain and brought to New York in 2023.
Carvajal pleaded guilty to charges carrying a life sentence, but his sentence has not yet been handed down. A detail which, according to several observers, indicates the prosecutors’ desire to use him as a key witness in the proceedings against Maduro. Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, explained to CNN that the postponement of sentencing after a plea deal is often a sign of ongoing collaboration, although without explicitly mentioning the Carvajal case. The precedent most evoked by analysts is that of Manuel Noriega. The Panamanian dictator was captured by US forces in 1990 and convicted of drug trafficking thanks to the testimonies of collaborators who had negotiated deals with the prosecution. Not surprisingly, the agreement of Carvajal with American justice the June 25, 2025. For Nicolás Maduro the judicial scenario that is opening up in the United States is unprecedented for a sitting head of state. The most serious federal charges – narco-terrorism and international drug trafficking conspiracy – expose the Venezuelan leader to the concrete risk of more life sentences. According to the prosecution system, Maduro he allegedly led or otherwise protected a transnational criminal structure responsible for sending enormous quantities of cocaine to North America and Europeusing drug trafficking as a political and financial tool. The narco-terrorism charge alone provides for the life sentence. A second life sentence could result from the continued conspiracy to traffic drugs on an international scale. Even beyond the formal number of life sentences, the accumulation of accessory sentences – tens of years in prison for criminal association, support for terrorist organizations and related federal crimes – would make any escape from prison is impossible. In practical terms, the proceedings are equivalent to a definitive judicial and political conviction, destined to mark the end of Maduro and the system of power built around him.
