The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, sparked controversy on social networks by assuring in a speech that “the Cartel of the Suns does not exist” and ruling out that the South American country is currently a major supplier of cocaine to the United States.
These statements opened a new chapter in the public dispute over the magnitude of drug trafficking. and the alleged ties of senior Venezuelan military commanders to the illicit drug trade.
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Petro’s statements generated rapid reactions among national political figures.
The Colombian president vehemently denied the existence of the criminal structure El Cartel de los Soles and described as exaggerated the figures that suggest a notable increase in cocaine export routes from Colombia to the United States.
“There is no greater potential for the projection of cocaine in Colombia, which is exaggerated. Cocaine exports are not heading towards the United States.”stated the head of state.
The discursive counteroffensive came from Carlos Felipe Mejía, former senator and open critic of the current administration, who interpreted Gustavo Petro’s statements as a sign of “despair.”
Mejía maintained that the recent revelations by Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, former Chavista intelligence chief extradited to the United States, increase pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s allies.
According to Mejía, “Statements from “Pollo Carvajal” have him desperate. He knows that Maduro is going to fall, and he will be the one who follows.”
After the above, the exchange grew with the statement of former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, who stressed from her account in
“God willing that they pay for each and every one of their crimes against democracy and the human rights of the Colombian and Latin American people,” he stated.
For the former chancellor, American justice could request extradition when they leave power.
“Those who believe they are immune will have to face US justice when they are out of power. I want to see them!!”he finished.
The ongoing judicial process against Hugo “el Pollo” Carvajal, former head of military intelligence in Venezuela, has once again put the alleged international political financing networks associated with Chavismo in the spotlight.
Carvajal has decided to collaborate with US justice after pleading guilty to four charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism in a New York federal court.
During his cooperation, Carvajal would have provided details about the international financing strategy orchestrated by the Venezuelan regime through the state oil company PDVSA.
According to documents disseminated in different European media, the former military man identified Nicolás Maduro as responsible for maintaining this scheme during his tenure as chancellor and later as president.
Carvajal maintained that “The Venezuelan Government has illegally financed leftist political movements in the world for at least 15 years.”
The statements of the former intelligence chief include a list of different leaders and political organizations, among whom he mentioned Gustavo Petro.
According to the revealed documentation, “All of them were recipients of money sent by the Venezuelan Government.”
As Carvajal himself explained, these funds were channeled through transfers and diplomatic bags, a method that would also have benefited campaigns of the Spanish Podemos party and the Italian Five Star movement.
Carvajal was extradited from Spain to the United States in 2023 after two years on the run. Prior to his transfer, he appeared at the National Court of Madrid before Judge Manuel García-Castellón, where he described the operation of the alleged financing networks.
In a letter sent to the Spanish judge, the former general detailed instructions that he would have received to supervise international financing operations by Chavismo, including the Colombian case.
Carvajal’s collaboration could be decisive in defining his sentencegiven that the court has authorized an additional hearing to evaluate the information provided, with the aim of achieving a possible reduction of his original sentence.
