Fernando Casado The Myth of the “Cartel of the Suns” Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime and Politics in Venezuela

Abstract:

However, the search was unsuccessful and the lack of evidence on that occasion led us to conclude that the vaunted" Cartel of the Suns", as portrayed by the media, simply did not exist. The" Cartel of the Suns" is then a construction whose objective was and still is to portray Venezuela as a narco-State, that is, a rogue State with which nothing can or should be negotiated. Coupled with this narrative, Nicolás Maduro would therefore no longer be a President, but rather the Cartel’s kingpin, and in consequence would be dispossessed of the power and legitimacy of a Head of State. Moreover, Maduro would no longer be considered a dictator but rather a criminal who together with his gang of thugs is getting rich with the drug business. As a result, any intervention to overthrow a ruler turned drug-trafficker and put an end to the illegal organization ruling Venezuela would be justified. In fact, as time passes, this narrative has been promoted and amplified together with the hostility of the ultra-conservative government of Donald Trump, which has hampered any kind of rapprochement between opposition and government in Venezuela and who dreams of an armed intervention in the country and an outcome like that of Manuel A. Noriega in Panama in 1989. Four years after our first study on the" Cartel of the Suns", the objective remains the same, to gather the evidence that proves its existence. But most importantly is to find the ties between Nicolás Maduro and his top officials with the criminal organization.

Año de publicación:

2020

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Fuente:

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