Versión Español
Spanish – Nicolás Maduro and Diosdado Cabello have formally been blacklisted in the United States. They were designated as drug traffickers and drivers of international terrorism, along with several members of the Venezuelan regime.
This formal accusation, undoubtedly, opens the door to a new chapter in Donald Trump’s administration against the criminal tyranny of Nicolás Maduro. A few months ago, U.S. State Department officials warned that there was a plan to escalate pressure in Venezuela for about a year, and at the time, it was already halfway through. This raises the stakes and sends out a strong message: either you leave, or, there will be the use of force to deal with you.
In the past, the United States has formally declared war on despotic leaders who use their nations to export drugs, terrorism, and illegal activities. Panama’s de facto dictator, Manuel Noriega, was accused in a Florida District Court, along with Pablo Escobar Gaviria and other members of Colombian drug cartels, of drug trafficking and other crimes. The then de facto dictator of Panama walked out with a machete in a massive televised demonstration, saying he would protect “Panamanian sovereignty” and declare war on the United States. The result was that on December 20, 1989, the U.S. army invaded Panama and, after a couple of days, captured the military leader, who spent the rest of his life confined in American, and later French, prisons, until he was extradited to Panama in his final years, where he died of cancer.
We have seen this situation with other major drug traffickers, heads of state, and high-ranking military officers, who have seized political control of their nations to carry out criminal activities. The most recent case was that of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general who had challenged American authorities more than once in his public speeches and encouraged destabilizing and terrorist activities. He was executed in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, by American drones in the vicinity of the airport- an operation that took place without prior notification by the American government. Iran promised immediate revenge, but given the inability to fight a war with the United States, this remained pure talk and “attacks” on buildings that did not harm any American. It was nothing more than propaganda for the Iranians themselves.
Saddam Hussein is another of the most notable cases where the American justice system took action to capture the then president of Iraq. The tyrant ended up being executed by hanging.
It is certainly a good indicator to compare the sums of money offered by the United States for the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his henchmen. For the illegitimate leader and tyrant, they are offering 15 million dollars, while for Diosdado Cabello, Hugo Carvajal, Cliver Alcalá, among other members of the criminal structure, the offer is 10 million dollars. In the past, Tareck el Aissami, the former vice president of the republic, had become the first official of the Chavista administration to have got a price tag on him, also 10 million dollars.
One of the few to exceed sums mentioned above was Saddam Hussein, for whom they had offered 25 million dollars, in which his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein were also captured. In the past, five million dollars were also offered for the handover of drug trafficker Chapo Guzman, and one million dollars for the son of Osama Bin Laden.
In fact, Brian Benczkowski, the American prosecutor who took the case of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán forward, was also in charge of the action against Maduro and company.
This action on the part of the United States Government opens up a new panorama for the immediate future of Maduro’s tyranny, and of course, that of his closest collaborators, and the opposition itself. In recent days, several “opposition” leaders, such as Henrique Capriles, Henri Falcón, among others, stated that it was necessary to reach agreements with Maduro’s regime to ask for funding and to fight the pandemic. It would have legitimized the criminal tyranny before international organizations and, of course, the international community. This reveals one of the worst calamities that we continue to have in the country: a huge number of politicians, economists, journalists, and opinion leaders who, for years, have indirectly intervened on behalf of the Chavista tyranny, and have acted as constant appeasers to save the skin of the “Bolivarian revolution.
From now on, the floodgate of fears and uncertainties within the regime is open. This is a new warning of the escalation of pressure, and the most important message is that there will be no possible negotiation with Maduro and his companions that allows them to keep ruling the country. They cannot stay in power forever. They will have to leave, by hook or by crook.
The rewards and formal accusations against Maduro, Diosdado may incite internal betrayals within the regime. They might give up their intentions to cling to power (I don’t think that that is very likely). Finally, it could open a legal window to execute an act of force soon.
From now on, whenever you see Diosdado saying that he will fight the U.S. if it enters Venezuela, remember the image of the placid and dejected Noriega years later asking for forgiveness for his crimes. All the Chavista “revolutionaries” have tried to show that they are very brave, surrounded by bodyguards against defenseless citizens. But the degree of their “courage” will be revealed at the moment of truth.
