U.S. Labels Venezuela’s Maduro and Regime as Narco-Terrorists

The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and members of his cabinet for narco-terrorism. The U.S. recognizes Juan Guaido as the legitimate president even though Maduro manages to maintain power.

On Thursday morning, U.S. Attorney General William Barr and top aides held a streamed news conference where they announced the charges against the longtime dictator and members of his regime.

“We don’t recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela,” Barr said during the virtual press conference.

Watch Live at 11:00 am Eastern: Attorney General Barr and Justice Department officials to announce significant law enforcement actions relating to international narco-terrorism. @SDNYnews @SDFLnews https://t.co/LM1Xsufnzf

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) March 26, 2020

According to Barr, Maduro’s regime coordinated the movement of drugs from Venezuela to cartels and worked with foreign terrorist organization designees such as Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). That relationship spans more than a decade where Maduro invited the Colombian terrorists to train with some Venezuelan forces.

As part of the federal actions, the U.S. Department of State announced a reward of $15 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and a $10 million reward for National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello Rondón, former head of military intelligence General Hugo Carvajal Barrios, General Clíver Alcalá Cordones, and industry minister Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah.

Maduro took to Twitter to claim the U.S. and Colombia were conspiring to fill his country with more violence.

¡Ratifico mi denuncia! Desde EE.UU. y Colombia se conspira y han dado la orden de llenar de violencia a Venezuela. Como jefe de Estado estoy obligado a defender la Paz y la estabilidad de toda la Patria, en cualquier circunstancia que se nos presente. ¡No han podido ni podrán! pic.twitter.com/jpE4c8JzFr

— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 26, 2020

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.