Former Venezuelan intelligence chief pleads guilty to US drug charges
Guardian1 day
Venezuelan Ex-Spy Chief Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking
Above: A view inside of a federal courtroom at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan US Federal Courthouse in Manhattan, New York City, on June 6, 2025. Image copyright: JEFFERSON SIEGEL/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
After years of evasion, Hugo Carvajal was finally wrested from Spain despite its courts condemning the U.S. extradition as politically charged and legally flimsy. His guilty plea now rings hollow, the endgame of a relentless pursuit less about justice than extracting intelligence, cloaked in narco-terror charges that masked a deeper geopolitical vendetta.
Pro-establishment narrative
For two decades, ex‑spymaster Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal exploited Venezuela’s state machinery to funnel cocaine, bankroll terror allies, and spy on America, quietly wounding U.S. communities. His shock guilty plea in New York tears the cloak from that criminal apparatus and hands Washington both vindication and a potent insider witness to dismantle Maduro’s narco‑network.