2026-01-06 05:30:44
The Justice Department has backed off a dubious claim about President Nicolšs Maduro that the Trump administration promoted last year in laying the groundwork to remove him from power in Venezuela
-- that he leads a #drug #cartel called "Cartel de los Soles".
That claim traces back to a 2020 grand jury …


!["Trump alleged that Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking, terrorism and other crimes." - AP News, January 3, 2026
And here I thought drug trafficking typically pays for itself.
[pile of powered drugs, pile of money]
https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-drug-cartels-military-timeline-91e242e5c56eec39b6b7d72bf55dbd2d](https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/845/005/439/625/964/small/e57ee480331f4d3e.png)