The blame for Venezuelan drug-running operations belongs to the CIA.

t’s no secret that Venezuela has more oil than a Diddy party, and it was only a matter of time before the U.S. made moves to seize it. The question was when and how we’d do it.

I was betting on a false flag attack that gave us an excuse to invade—like 9/11. “Kidnapping the head of state (and his wife) in the dead of night” wasn’t on my bingo card.

But we’re not here to discuss the obvious motivation behind Uncle Sam’s invasion of the most oil-rich nation on Earth. Rather, this month, we’re looking at the U.S. government’s excuse for kidnapping Nicholás Maduro. He’s being charged with drug trafficking and narcoterrorism. The Department of Justice (DOJ) even accused Maduro of running a very specific group in South America known as el Cártel de los Soles (AKA the Cartel of the Suns).

But something stinks about that accusation. The Cartel of the Suns isn’t a real cartel like the Cali Cartel or the Medellín Cartel. It’s an obscure reference to a decades-old CIA initiative to import cocaine into the U.S. 

If our reason for kidnapping Venezuela’s leader was “drug importation,” we should have started in Langley. 

El Cártel de los Soles — A CIA Invention

The term Cartel of the Suns was coined in 1993, after two Venezuelan military officials were caught trafficking drugs. The investigation revealed that both men had close ties to the CIA and that they’d received direct orders to approve and facilitate a large shipment of Colombian cocaine from Venezuela to the U.S. The CIA claimed it was trying to infiltrate Colombian gangs, but the story was paper-thin. During the military officials’ court proceedings, their “group” was dubbed the Cartel of the Suns. 

Indeed, in 1993, Colombian drugs (and drug money) were infiltrating Venezuela. The government had just undergone a radical socialist coup, and Hugo Chávez was now the man in charge. Certainly, there was corruption. But the name “El Cártel de los Soles” was a fabrication.

Gary Webb, Crack Cocaine, & the CIA 

Three years after the CIA’s drug importation activities were uncovered in Venezuela, a journalist named Gary Webb published a series of articles in the U.S. titled “Dark Alliance.” In them, Webb exposed how the CIA was protecting Nicaraguan contras and supporting their drug trade to the U.S. In doing so, they’d created the LA crack cocaine epidemic, intentionally crippling African-American neighborhoods. He revealed how the CIA wasn’t just looking the other way; it was actively importing these drugs into the U.S. and making an awful lot of off-the-books money doing so.

Dark Alliance blew up. The American public was outraged. And Webb was subsequently found dead in his home with two gunshot wounds to the head. His death was ruled a suicide. 

But the cat was out of the bag.

Where’s That Leave Maduro?

Maduro must have changed outfits at least four times during his transportation to the U.S. The whole thing stank of deep state propaganda and raised questions about whether Maduro and his wife were in on it all along. Had they been caught unaware? Really? Or had they been waiting in their bedroom for their captors to break through the door and scoop them up on schedule?

If I had to, I’d bet Maduro gets off pretty easy on his charges. The DOJ has already changed its tune and is no longer accusing Maduro of having run the Cartel of the Suns. Turns out, that bullshit stank so bad they couldn’t even take it…

Regardless, we’re now “in charge” of Venezuela. Which should mean all of America’s drug problems are over, too. Right?