The Web of Venezuelan Generals Accused of Fueling the Cocaine Trade

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1. For more than two decades, a loose-knit group of Venezuelan generals and senior officials has enabled the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe, American and Colombian officials say.

   While nearly all cocaine is produced in neighboring Colombia, Venezuela plays an important role in allowing the drug to move through its territory and then onto ships and planes that traffic it to Europe, the Caribbean and the U.S., the officials have said.

   The country’s military permits Colombian guerrillas and cocaine gangs who pay millions of dollars in bribes to move cocaine through the country, officials said. The cocaine is then shipped by air to Central America or by sea to Caribbean islands and Europe.

   Now this Venezuelan network, known to U.S. officials as the “Cartel of the Suns,” is in the Trump administration’s sights. The State Department says it is designating the Cartel of the Suns as a foreign-terrorist organization.

   Read more (free link): [https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/the-web-of-venezuelan-generals-accused-of-fueling-the-cocaine-trade-8bb251db?st=JKM1AQ&mod=wsjreddit](https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/the-web-of-venezuelan-generals-accused-of-fueling-the-cocaine-trade-8bb251db?st=JKM1AQ&mod=wsjreddit)

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3. Good thing Colombians and Mexicans never got involved with the drug trade.

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5. The very minimal flow of drugs from Venezuela is being fear mongered because Trump wants to invade Venezuela so oil companies can exploit their resources. This is just Bush fear mongering about chemical weapons 2.0.

   It just takes two seconds to realize it was never about drugs, because other neighboring countries are far bigger suppliers of drugs into America and get no attention.

6. I think everyone can agree that Maduro is the illegitimate president of Venezuela, and his cronies are complicit.

   But with that said, the drug angle never made sense to me. First off, there are other countries in central- and south America that don’t face anywhere near the amount of heat that Venezuela does. Second, Fentanyl is mainly supplied to the US via China -> Mexico.

   The drug justification sounds very weak, to put it mildly.

7. Just entertaining the idea that this new war project of Trump is about drugs is an insult to our collective intelligence.

8. The manufacturing of consent is really working over-time. The Venezuelan drug trade wasn’t on anyone’s radar until the Trump administration found a partner in the opposition they can work with to open Venezuela’s markets to American corporations. Now regime change is the outcome looking for a moral justification.

9. Or cocaining the fuel trade? New word?

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