Lies About Venezuela and Shady Deals With Governments Linked to Cartels
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was recently in Ecuador, making deals with a government that has high-ranking officials linked to cartels
Despite U.S. intelligence stating that Maduro has no control over Tren de Aragua (TdA), as the White House suggests, and ignoring that Maduro has led many campaigns targeting TdA using similar tactics as Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, the administration continues to push misinformation that only casts doubt about every accusation made against Venezuela for more than two decades.
Even though Maduro has been indicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking, all the lies and saber-rattling about invading Venezuela and alleging that Nicolas Maduro has links to cartels is telling. The United States, being on the wrong end of those accusations and backing multiple coups, casting doubt about Venezuela’s elections through various U.S.-funded agencies, and backing many failed terrorist attacks, isn’t helping the U.S.’s cause.
The more the administration spreads lies about Venezuela, the more it exposes the propaganda that has been pervasive in any conversation about the Latin American nation.
Enter, Ecuador.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently made a trip to Ecuador to iron out some diplomatic agreements. While there, he declared two Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist organizations, while giving Ecuador $20 million for security funding, partly to purchase drones for the Ecuadorian Navy. The funding is meant to assist with combating cartels. In return, there’s talk of the U.S. reopening a military base in the country, “if invited.”
“In fact, we had a military base in the past. We were asked to leave, and during Correa’s administration, we left,” said Rubio during a joint press conference with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld on Thursday. “If we’re invited to come back, this is strategic; we will study it, see if it makes sense, if it helps us. And if we can help with illegal mining, narcoterrorism, and illegal fishing, which is extremely serious, if we can help with that, we are willing to consider it.”
However, high-ranking Ecuadorian government officials and their businesses have been linked to drug trafficking, exposing various conflicts of interest. It should also be noted that Ecuador is often referred to as the gateway of drug-smuggling operations in Latin America due to its bordering the two largest producers of cocaine, Peru and Colombia.
Working with a government that turns a blind eye to cartels and the Albanian mafia is duplicitous, and this duplicity, being mentioned by Latin American leaders such as Maduro, should come as no surprise.
Just after Erik Prince visited Ecuador earlier this year to offer the Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa security training for the police and military, 38 people were arrested in Venezuela in an alleged terrorist plot. Maduro claimed on state television that an attempted bombing (thwarted by a citizen) was linked to Ecuador and the Albanian mafia.
Maduro declared, “If Erik Prince is there, the American empire is there."
“Now, 38 new mercenaries have been detained,” said Maduro in May. “The Albanian mafia that rules Ecuador sent some of its trained mercenaries to plant bombs in Venezuela. We have caught them. Three of their phones were seized."
How the U.S. addresses its deceit moving forward is underscored by the dismissiveness expressed by the administration about attacking a boat suspected of carrying drugs and killing 11 people. When Rubio was asked about the duplicity in working with the Ecuadorian government, which has arguably done less than Maduro in Venezuela and Petro in Colombia to fight drug trafficking, and not Venezuela, Rubio did not appreciate the inquiry.
The question now becomes, why is the U.S. willing to help Ecuador target cartels but not a country like Venezuela? As an invasion of a country not linked by U.S. intelligence to smuggling operations is justified, the U.S. is also supporting a country with a notorious drug smuggling problem that’s bolstered by its president’s monopoly on bananas and its shipping industry, as drugs are being found in his shipments.
Noboa has failed to address corruption in his own government and in his own businesses, thus reinforcing the drug trade, and the U.S. has chosen to support him.
Many will say that it’s the oil, and they’d largely be correct. But there’s also gold, lithium, and many other resources, including fresh water, that the U.S. is after. War criminals like Erik Prince don’t call it El Dorado, and U.S. government officials don’t take ownership of it by referring to it as “our backyard” for no reason. U.S. corporations stand to benefit by trillions of dollars if the U.S invades Venezuela, overthrows its government, and installs a U.S. corporate-friendly government.
As it sets itself up to help assist a corrupt far-right government in Latin America, as it has historically done, the U.S. has deployed 10 F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico for “counter narcotics operations.” Why you would need that for boats smuggling drugs makes no sense. It can and should likely be concluded that they are there to support an invasion of Venezuela as the Latinophobic rabidity of this administration continues to fester and show itself.
Watch the Full Joint Press Conference
I’m an independent investigative journalist who enjoys digging deeper into the stories you see on the news. Find my work at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
You are holding up a mirror and reflecting back on the reality of the US. It is not flattering. I could be angry with you, but instead find myself grateful for helping me see our true nature. Luc summed it up well. Capitalism is our highest value and we are blind to any other way of being.
At this point I wouldn't even been surprised if most Americans start getting together behind this new war as a rallying point for a sick empire rather than facing the reality of what it has become ...