Latin America
Related: About this forumU.S. Arrests Two Relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Drug-Trafficking Charges
U.S. agents arrest two on charges they conspired to transport 800 kilograms of cocaine to the U.S., according to two people familiar with the matter
By JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA
Nov. 11, 2015 4:14 p.m. ET
WASHINGTONU.S. agents arrested two close relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduros wife on charges they conspired to transport 800 kilograms of cocaine to the U.S., according to two people familiar with the matter, a potentially explosive incident that comes amid U.S. accusations that the top echelon of Venezuelas government is involved in the narcotics trade.
More @ http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-says-it-arrests-two-relatives-of-venezuelan-president-nicolas-maduro-on-drug-trafficking-charges-1447276449
MADem
(135,425 posts)Here's more for those who don't subscribe to WSJ--it was her nephews.....AND THEY ARE IN CUSTODY!!!!
Franqui Francisco Flores-de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo-Flores were flown into New York on Tuesday, a source said.
Both are nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, according to two sources linked to the Flores family.
The news may tarnish Maduro's image as he heads toward legislative elections that are expected to be among the most difficult for the ruling Socialist Party due to the OPEC nation's ongoing economic crisis.
The U.S. State Department says that more than half of the cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia is trafficked through Venezuela toward markets in Europe and the United States.
Maduro denies those charges, calling them a smear campaign against the Socialist Party.
No charging documents were immediately available on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara declined comment. Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
Flores, 62, whom the president refers to as the "First Combatant," is highly influential under the government of her husband. She worked on the legal team of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, working to secure his 1994 release from prison after a failed coup attempt.
In 2006, she became the first woman elected to lead the legislature, taking over that role from Maduro.......
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/11/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN0T02JE20151111
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)This is america still trying to exploit countries for their resources.
Throw the ex-patriots out of america and close the school of the america's..
Let them self rule...
Zorro
(15,749 posts)So funny!
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)No one believes that Bolivarian solidarity bullshit anymore. That place is run by crooks, and the porty fella with the moustache is the biggest, stupidest crook of the bunch.
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)began being exposed? Bank accounts of ex-patriots being exposed.. That would really suck if it happened wouldn't it.
Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)Don't worry, you're not alone. Even Noam Chomsky has admitted that Venezuela is a disaster now under Maduro. It's ok to accept you were wrong.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)forest444
(5,902 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)forest444
(5,902 posts)Besides their connections, what works so well for them is that most voters seem to think that the only narcos are people who look like the cast of Netflix's 'Narcos'.
Pretty hopeless, if you ask me.
Response to Oele (Original post)
COLGATE4 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Oele
(128 posts)"They told the DEA that they were acting in connection with Diosdado Cabello, speaker of the National Assembly, as well as with a governor, Tarck el Aissami, who is the former Venezuelan Minister of the Interior."
....
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)That's not going to sit well at home. Obviously the two youths were waterboarded and given drugs by the CIA in order to get them to speak so ill of the Leaders of the Patria.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Good thing VZ doesn't extradite! Don't step over any borders, now....
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)You never know when one of those Colombian Paramilitary squads might show up in Miami...
MADem
(135,425 posts)Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)I believe his name was Thomas Shannon. Wonder if the negotiations there included perhaps ratting out certain relatives to Maduro, and try to shift away attention from himself regarding his current investigation for being accused as running an international drug cartel. Whaddaya think? New writing material for "Narcos," maybe?
MADem
(135,425 posts)envelope VZ in the months ahead, we'll know!
Everyone needs a confidential, cooperating witness, every now and again!
And of course, the guy who gets to tell how it "really" happened, is the one who survives.
Will Diosdado claim that "Maduro tried to set me up?" Nothing would surprise me at this stage! "See? See? It was HIS godson and nephew that were doing this shit...not meeeeeeee!!!!"
Stranger things have happened!
Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)Last edited Thu Nov 12, 2015, 01:47 AM - Edit history (1)
Some say the PSUV leadership is essentially split in two: those who follow Cabello, and those who follow Maduro. And this whole game with the DEA is to see who will stand on top once the main players of the opposing side is gotten rid of. Cilia Flores (Maduro's wife) is apparently going soon to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to "study English." BULL-fucking-shit. She's gonna stay over there for protection or to seek asylum. The Maduro's are searching now for places where they can exile themselves once the Chavista regime falls, and each one of the PSUV narco-kings start to be prosecuted for god knows how many different kinds of crimes. It's every man (or should I say "family" for himself now.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Maduro is the outsider, chosen by Raul Castro at a time when Chavez was dying, drugged, fucked up, and being lied to about his condition. Maduro is easily led, like a dumb bull with a ring through his nose. Now that Cuba is engaging in rapprochement with USA, they don't NEED VZ anymore.
Under the bus with 'em! Gee--bet Snowden's glad he didn't hightail it to Caracas, after all!
Oele
(128 posts)Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday condemned what he called imperialist attacks and ambushes after two nephews of his wife were arrested in Haiti and taken to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
"The fatherland will follow its course," tweeted the 52-year-old Venezuelan president, whose socialist government is facing increasing accusations from the United States of collusion in smuggling cocaine from Colombia.
"Neither attacks nor imperialist ambushes can harm the people of the liberators," added Maduro, who was to address the United Nations human rights body in Geneva later on Thursday.
Franqui Francisco Flores-de Freitas, 30, and Efrain Antonio Campo-Flores, 29, were flown to New York on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Both are nephews of Maduro's wife and first lady, Cilia Flores.
more @ http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/12/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN0T11B820151112#co9ZLijXfTVbw99c.97