Former Venezuelan general pleads guilty in drugs case – DW – 06/26/2025
Hugo Carvajal was extradited to the US from Spain in 2023. The former spy chief pleaded guilty to narcoterrorism, weapons, and drug trafficking charges.
A former head of Venezuela's military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a United States federal court.
Hugo Carvajal — a close aide of the country's late President Hugo Chavez — on Wednesday pleaded guilty to four criminal counts, including narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges.
The indictment accused the retired major general of leading a cartel composed of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to "flood" the US with cocaine in collusion with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.
The 65-year-old faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Carvajal's sentencing is slated for October.
Nicknamed "El Pollo," Spanish for "the chicken," Carvajal advised Chavez for over a decade and is considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader's rule.
The spymaster later broke with current President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's chosen successor, to support the US-backed political opposition.
In 2023, Carvajal was extradited from Spain after being on the run from US law enforcement for more than 10 years.
"The deeply troubling reality is that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs that kill and debilitate," Jay Clayton, the interim US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement on Wednesday.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Germany
40 minutes ago
- Local Germany
Germany to stop funding Mediterranean sea migrant rescues
The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for NGOs that rescue migrants seeking to head to Europe from Africa. That had drawn criticism from the centre-right CDU party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that took power in May, and sparked a row with Rome since many of the rescued migrants were brought ashore in Italy. The German government provided two million euros ($2.3 million) last year to organisations including SOS Humanity and SOS Mediterranee for rescuing migrants who ran into trouble, the ministry source said. In the first quarter of this year, sea rescue NGOs received about 900,000 euros in government funding. "The federal government does not plan to provide further financial support to non-governmental organisations involved in civilian sea rescue," the ministry source told AFP. The withdrawal of funding comes as Merz's new government pursues a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Green party criticised the move as a "disastrous decision" by the CDU and its junior coalition partner, the centre-left SPD. "The coalition is predictably exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and causing human suffering," Greens lawmaker Britta Hasselmann told AFP. Gorden Isler, chairman of the sea rescue NGO Sea-Eye, said the move sent a "catastrophic signal". Financial support for Sea-Eye had helped the group conduct missions and save lives, he said. Advertisement "Now we might have to remain in port despite emergencies at sea," he said. The news came a week after 21 maritime rescue groups called on Berlin to continue supporting their operations, and urged the European Union to provide substantial funding for rescue patrols and arrival centres. The organisations said they had rescued more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years. A row erupted between Germany and Italy over the sea rescues in 2023, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni writing a letter to then chancellor Olaf Scholz complaining about Berlin funding the operations. Tech billionaire Elon Musk even waded into the row, saying the Berlin-backed sea rescue operations could be seen as an "invasion" of Italy. Musk, who used to be a key adviser to US President Donald Trump, vocally backed the AfD ahead of elections in February, in which the party came second and scored a record result. © Agence France-Presse
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Nearly One-third Of Pacific Nation Tuvalu Seeks Australian Climate Visa
Nearly one-third of citizens in Pacific nation Tuvalu are seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas threaten their palm-fringed shores, official figures obtained by AFP show. Australia is offering visas to 280 Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world". More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas, according to official figures on the Australian programme, almost a full third of the nation's population. One of the most climate-threatened corners of the planet, scientists fear Tuvalu will be uninhabitable within the next 80 years. Two of the archipelago's nine coral atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves. "Australia recognises the devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security, and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region," Australia's foreign affairs department told AFP. Australia and Tuvalu inked the groundbreaking Falepili Union in 2024, part of Canberra's efforts to blunt China's expanding reach in the region. Under that pact, Australia opened a new visa category specially set aside for adult citizens of Tuvalu. Already, there are signs the programme will be hugely oversubscribed. Official data on the programme shows 3,125 Tuvaluans entered the random ballot within four days of it opening last week. "This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen," a spokesperson for Australia's foreign affairs department said. Tuvalu is home to 10,643 people, according to census figures collected in 2022. Registration costs Aus$25 (US$16), with the ballot closing on July 18. The visa programme has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. "At the same time, it will provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia," Australia's foreign affairs department said. But they have also fanned fears that nations like Tuvalu could be rapidly drained of skilled professionals and young talent. University of Sydney geographer John Connell warned that a long-term exodus of workers could imperil Tuvalu's future. "Small states do not have many jobs and some activities don't need that many people," he told AFP. "Atolls don't offer much of a future: agriculture is hard, fisheries offer wonderful potential but it doesn't generate employment," he added. The Falepili pact commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and "military aggression". "For the first time, there is a country that has committed legally to come to the aid of Tuvalu, upon request, when Tuvalu encounters a major natural disaster, a health pandemic or military aggression," Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said at the time. "Again, for the first time there is a country that has committed legally to recognise the future statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu despite the detrimental impact of climate changed-induced sea level rise." The agreement also offers Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu signs with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty. Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year his country shared a vision for a "peaceful, stable, prosperous and unified region". "It shows our Pacific partners that they can rely on Australia as a trusted and genuine partner." (FILES) A file photo taken on February 19, 2004 shows the serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll, home to nearly half of Tuvalu's entire population of 11,500, as king tides threaten to inundate the tiny island nation. The Pacific nation of Tuvalu was once seen as the embodiment of palm-fringed paradise, but nearly a third of its population has applied to leave under a landmark climate and security pact with Australia on June 25, 2025. AFP
DW
5 hours ago
- DW
Former Venezuelan general pleads guilty in drugs case – DW – 06/26/2025
Hugo Carvajal was extradited to the US from Spain in 2023. The former spy chief pleaded guilty to narcoterrorism, weapons, and drug trafficking charges. A former head of Venezuela's military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a United States federal court. Hugo Carvajal — a close aide of the country's late President Hugo Chavez — on Wednesday pleaded guilty to four criminal counts, including narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges. The indictment accused the retired major general of leading a cartel composed of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to "flood" the US with cocaine in collusion with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia. The 65-year-old faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Carvajal's sentencing is slated for October. Nicknamed "El Pollo," Spanish for "the chicken," Carvajal advised Chavez for over a decade and is considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader's rule. The spymaster later broke with current President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's chosen successor, to support the US-backed political opposition. In 2023, Carvajal was extradited from Spain after being on the run from US law enforcement for more than 10 years. "The deeply troubling reality is that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs that kill and debilitate," Jay Clayton, the interim US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement on Wednesday. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
