August 12, 2026

Cartel Wars

Nicolas Maduro to face trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges in June 2027 – National– globalnews.ca

pgnewser July 23, 2026 0

Nicolas Maduro to face trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges in June 2027 – National– globalnews.ca
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EXCERPT:

Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife will go on trial on drug trafficking charges next June, a judge said Wednesday, as their lawyers continue to object to the U.S. military action that snatched them from power.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the June 1 trial date at the request of lawyers on both sides. Under the approved schedule, defense lawyers will begin filing requests in early September to challenge the indictment and the couple will return to the courtroom Nov. 17 for oral arguments on the motions.

Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January.

Neither spoke during Wednesday’s 15-minute hearing as each sat separately at a defense table, surrounded by their lawyers. Both have pleaded not guilty. They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.

As the U.S. bombs Cartel Boats off its Coast, Venezuela Hints at War with U.S.

pgnewser October 6, 2025 0

Report: In Venezuela, Cartels Are Part of Regime | OCCRP

Venezuela vows to defend itself after US military destroys another ‘drug-smuggling’ boat – Morning Star | The People’s Daily
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Excerpt:

VENEZUELA is ready to defend itself against “warlike aggression” by the United States, the country’s leaders vowed at the weekend after the US military destroyed a fourth alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean….

Mr Trump claimed on social media that the boat had been “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE” and implied that it was “entering American Territory” while off the coast of Venezuela.

President Nicolas Maduro told the Caracas conference that his country was ready to defend itself.

“Venezuela has the right to peace, to sovereignty, to existence, and no empire in this world can take it away,” he said.

“And if it is necessary to move from an unarmed struggle to an armed struggle, this people will do so … Colonialism no more.”

Neighbouring Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro accused the US of committing “murder” and urged the victims’ families to “join forces.”

Posting on X, he said: “There are no narco-terrorists on the boats. Drug traffickers live in the US, Europe and Dubai. On that boat are poor Caribbean youth.”

War on Cartels Escalates to Venezuelan Ports

pgnewser October 3, 2025 0

Venezuelan military takes control of five ports in economic 'war ...

US military ‘preparing to seize ports & airfields’ in Venezuela as Trump declares full-scale war on drug cartels– www.thesun.co.uk
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Excerpt:

AMERICA’S military is reportedly preparing to seize ports and airfields in Venezuela as Donald Trump declared a full-scale war on drug cartels.

The President stunned Washington by formally declaring the US is in a “non-international armed conflict” with the Latin American “terrorist organisations.”

The move, revealed in a secret memo to Congress, gives Trump sweeping wartime powers to strike, kill and detain cartel fighters without trial.

And it comes as the Pentagon quietly builds a force big enough to grab and hold territory on Venezuelan soil.

According to the Washington Examiner, US planners now have enough firepower positioned to seize key ports and airfields if ordered.

Off Venezuela’s coast sits a formidable armada: Navy warships and a submarine, ten F-35 Lightning II stealth jets, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit — 2,200 Marines with Harrier jump jets, helicopters and armor.

Trump Ups Ante on Venezuela Showdown with Demand they Take Criminal Deportees Back

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

Trump eyes Venezuela regime change as warships near the coast

Trump demands Venezuela take back criminals, threatens ‘incalculable price’ if they refuse– www.washingtontimes.com
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Excerpt:

President Trump demanded that Venezuela accept “prisoners and people from mental institutions” that are in the United States.

“We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan ‘Leadership’ has forced into the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social Saturday.

“Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these ‘Monsters,’ he wrote, adding all caps, “Get them the hell out of our country, right now, or the price you pay will be incalculable.”

The Trump administration Friday asked the Supreme Court to end protections for Venezuelans in the U.S. Over 300,000 migrants from Venezuela have been granted Temporary Protection Status, which stops them from being deported and allows them to get work permits and apply for some taxpayer benefits.

The case has been batted around the courts for months, and the justices previously blocked a district court preliminary injunction that had ordered the president to keep the Temporary Protected Status program running.

Venezuelan president’s YouTube account offline as tensions with US escalate– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser September 22, 2025 0

Venezuelan president’s YouTube account offline as tensions with US escalate– abcnews.go.com
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Excerpt:

BOGOTA, Colombia — The YouTube account of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was offline Saturday, with Venezuelan state-run channel Telesur claiming in a message on X that it was “eliminated” late the previous night without justification.

YouTube’s parent company Google did not immediately respond to questions on the apparent termination of the Venezuelan president’s account. It comes amid rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States over the deployment of American warships and fighter jets in the southern Caribbean.

Maduro’s YouTube account had more than 200,000 followers before it became unavailable Friday and was used to publish the Venezuelan president’s speeches, as well as clips from his weekly show on Venezuelan state TV.

On its website, YouTube says it eliminates accounts that commit “repeated violations of community guidelines” that include publishing misinformation, hate speech and content that “interferes with democratic processes.”

Maduro has been widely accused of stealing last year’s presidential election in Venezuela, which he lost by a landslide according to tally sheets gathered by hundreds of Venezuelan opposition activists. Venezuela’s elections agency, which is controlled by the ruling socialist party, never published tally sheets to support its claim that Maduro won the vote.

US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years– www.cbsnews.com

US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser September 16, 2025 0

US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years– www.cbsnews.com

US designates Colombia as failing to cooperate in the drug war for first time in nearly 30 years– www.cbsnews.com
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Excerpt:

The Trump administration on Monday added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years, a stinging rebuke to a traditional U.S. ally that reflects a recent surge in cocaine production and fraying ties between the White House and the country’s leftist president.

Even as it determined that Colombia had failed to comply with its international counternarcotics obligations, the Trump administration issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered major aid cuts, citing vital U.S. national interests.

Nonetheless, it is a major step against one of the United States’ staunchest allies in Latin America, and it could further hamper efforts to restore security in the countryside, according to Adam Isacson, a security researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he regretted the decision, which overlooked decades of bloodshed by Colombian security forces and civilians all in the name of a U.S.-led drug war.

US military again strikes boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people aboard– www.euronews.com

US military again strikes boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people aboard– www.euronews.com

pgnewser September 16, 2025 0

US military again strikes boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people aboard– www.euronews.com

US military again strikes boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three people aboard– www.euronews.com
Source Link
Excerpt:

US President Donald Trump said the military on Monday again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel, hinting that the targeting of cartels could be further expanded.

“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the strike.

“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels pose a threat to National Security, foreign policy, and vital US Interests,” Trump wrote.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office later on Monday, Trump said he had been shown footage of the latest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Asked what proof the US has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, “We have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean — big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.”

US adds Colombia to list of nations failing to cooperate in drug war– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser September 16, 2025 0

US adds Colombia to list of nations failing to cooperate in drug war– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Excerpt:

The Trump administration added Colombia to a list of countries failing to cooperate in the war on drugs for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The designation reflects the deteriorating relations between the United States and one of its closest Latin American allies. Trump’s vision has repeatedly clashed with that of the left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, whose soft-handed approach to cocaine production has failed to stop the skyrocketing of cocaine cultivation. In a presidential determination, Trump laid the deterioration in relations squarely at Petro’s feet.

Soldiers patrol a street in El Carmelo, Colombia, a day after a deadly attack on a police station that authorities blame on a dissident faction of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

“The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump said, bashing Petro’s government for not decreasing production and criticizing his “failed attempts to seek accommodations with narco-terrorist groups.”