Venezuela, the beginning of the end

By: Francisco Santos - 28/08/2025

During the two decades of government, if you can call it that, of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, they relied on the United States, where they found allies to halt a comprehensive attack and divide politics against them. That's how they survived, despite intervening in other countries, in many elections, and even creating and participating in one of the most powerful criminal organizations on the continent, the Cartel of the Suns.

The examples are many; the worst occurred during the administration of Democrat Joe Biden, when Maduro and his henchmen found a great ally in the White House, Juan González, with whom they played for four years, with the help, of course, of the multinational oil company Exxon. This ally helped them bring down the interim government and even opened the door to financing in exchange for absolutely nothing. What's more, something very serious happened, which should be investigated because it could have been a crime: they took advantage of the president's senility to make decisions behind his back, something that Biden himself denounced in a moment of lucidity during a meeting with Venezuelan President-elect Edmundo González, a few weeks before leaving office.

The first Trump administration also suffered from a lack of unity in its policy toward Venezuela. The White House had a hard line against Maduro, led by the Security Adviser for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, but opposition from the State Department and even the Department of Defense prevented Trump from achieving more decisive results against the Venezuelan mafia. Maduro survived.

That changed in this administration. Trump is in charge; he decides, and others carry out his orders. There is no longer that fifth column that Maduro and his henchmen played with for just over a decade, which facilitated their survival. Even at the beginning of this administration, Maduro and his mafia played the same game and used Richard Grenell, a White House envoy who operated similarly to Juan González, to gain ground. They gave him a few victories, truly miserable, to strengthen him in Trump's eyes. They thought, we'll continue on the same path, give them something, and they'll give us more. It didn't work for them, and that parallel diplomacy, parallel to that of the State Department, ended.

Today, there's only one policy toward Venezuela and the criminal who heads it; by the way, they no longer call him president, but rather the head of the Cartel of the Suns. The first thing was that they raised the bounty on his head to $50 million, along with his right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, and his Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino. The message is clear: we're coming for them. In fact, the truth is that if I were Maduro's wife, Celia (and they're also coming for her), I wouldn't sleep in the same bed.

The second was to turn the Cartel of the Suns, and all its members, into a transnational criminal organization. The objective is clear: they are a threat to national security, and the range of political, financial, judicial, and military measures that can be used against them is expanding. I repeat, Doña Celia is better off sleeping in another house, far away from Maduro. The statements of the United States Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, make clear what the United States thinks of Maduro and what they are going to do: "He will pay for his crimes."

The third aspect is perhaps what most consolidates this unity of command in Trump's policy toward Maduro, and shows where things are headed: the deployment of large naval resources to the southern Caribbean around the Venezuelan coast. This operation would have been impossible to carry out under Trump I, Biden, and even Obama. Under George Bush, all resources were focused on the huge mistake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't know if you've noticed, but the last two times we've had similar deployments of forces in the region in the last 40 years, there were two operations: the invasion of Grenada and the capture of the Panamanian mafia leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Is the message Trump and the United States are sending to the Venezuelan mafia, the Latin American mafia, and some regional leaders clear to them? They will NOT continue to look the other way while the mafias take over their countries, while the mafias become part of political regimes or grow under the protection of complicit governments. It's clear that the first target is Venezuela and Maduro, but Lula, Sheinbaum, Petro, Arce, and others must understand the message. Drug trafficking is a national security issue for the United States, and they will treat it that way. It's about time.

What's next? Not necessarily a military invasion, although rapid extraction or target neutralization operations shouldn't be ruled out. This pressure, with no way out for the Venezuelan mafia, and even for other regional mafias, is just beginning. The latter must be thinking that if they hand over Maduro and his allies, the pressure could significantly ease. They're not wrong.

The main message, however, is for thousands of Venezuelans who have everything to gain and little to lose if they are handed over; what's more, they no longer have to be taken out of Venezuela; simply getting them to the coast, where a US helicopter will pick them up, is enough. There are more than a few, including Blackwater leader Erick Prince, who must be thinking about how to pull off this operation and earn that reward.

It's obvious that we won't know the plans behind the mobilization of such a naval force, just as it's obvious that Trump haters will never support the policy of ending this mafia dictator. We already see them shouting in the media today. Never mind, the message is clear, and anyone who doesn't understand it will pay the consequences. European leaders took note, and that's why they accompanied Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to his meeting at the White House.

There's a new sheriff in town. His first target is Nicolás Maduro, but hopefully the others will wake up, or maybe not suddenly, so they end up like the Venezuelan mafia leader. Noriega's cell is free and available. He already has a name. But there are other free cells too. That's great.

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