VIDEO: The Worst Drug Traffickers Are Often U.S. Allies
Before kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration accused the Venezuelan leader of leading a drug cartel called “Cartel De Los Soles,” among other charges. But now the Justice Department, the BBC reports, “has dropped claims that the group actually exists.”
IPS drug policy expert Sanho Tree spoke to the BBC about the development. “The Cartel De Los Soles is not a real organization,” Sanho said. It’s a “figure of speech” that “predates the Maduro and Chavez administrations,” referring to “corrupt individuals and rent seekers who take bribes to look the other way” on the drug trade.
“It’s relatively low-level corruption, and it’s always happened throughout Latin America — including amongst our allies as well as our official enemies,” Sanho explained. “Drug prohibition is an equal opportunity corrupter.”
Sanho also disputed the administration’s broader claim that Venezuela is a significant importer of drugs into the United States. “Venezuela and Maduro are relatively small players in the great scheme of things in terms of drug consumption in the United States. Most of it comes from other countries,” Sanho said.
“The cocaine that’s trafficked through Venezuela goes primarily to Africa and Europe — very little of it reaches the United States, and there’s certainly no fentanyl involved,” he argued. “So those charges don’t stand up. These were all fabricated to target a political enemy for political ends.”
In fact, Sanho pointed out that U.S. allies in the region have in fact been among its most prolific drug traffickers. “Historically, many of the presidents and secretaries and generals amongst our allied nations in the war on drugs over the past quarter century have been more problematic than this official designated enemy,” he said.
Among other examples, Sanho pointed to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a “massively corrupt” right-wing president who was recently sentenced to 45 years in prison for cocaine trafficking before being pardoned by President Trump. “Trump gave him a full and complete pardon,” Sanho said. “The hypocrisy is quite striking.”
Watch the full segment below.
