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Issue 212 March 18, 2014

Pedro Roig*

Venezuela-Cuba Military Cooperation and the Narco-Terrorist Connection

The rebellion of the Venezuelan youth demanding the end of Nicolas Maduros

presidency has brought into the forefront the nature of a regime that can be defined as a highly

corrupt narco-terrorist state supported by Cuban military forces and Colombian drug cartels.

Venezuela, a country of 29 million people, is blessed with good climate, rich land, the

largest oil reserve in the world and access to major industrial markets. It has every expectation of

prospering and becoming a modern, wealthy state. Yet the ruling oligarchy, led by the late-Hugo

Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro, understood their revolutionary goal as a right to pillage the

national wealth, turning the country into a decrepit caricature of Cubas Marxist failure and a

secure route for Colombias narco-guerilla to smuggle cocaine to the international markets.

The Cuban Connection

First and foremost, the Maduro government hold to power depends to a large extent on

Cubas special forces of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) estimated at over 7,000. This is

not counting medical and other support personnel (over 30,000) deployed throughout Venezuela.

In addition, Cubans helped trained several thousand trusted Chavistas. Called

collectivos, these motorcycle gangs can be seen in the videos and pictures helping the National

Guard repress peaceful protests and shooting unarmed students (presently, more than 25 students

have been murdered and over 300 wounded).

Currently, General Raul Castro has several high ranking officers providing tactical and

strategic advice to the Venezuelans, including General Leonardo Ramon Andollo, Second Chief

of the General Staff of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR), Comandante Ramiro

Valdes, former head of Cubas MININT, and General Carlos Fernandez Gondin, Second in

Command of the Ministry of Interior. The first two have spent extended periods of time in

Venezuela organizing Cubas support for Venezuelas repressive apparatus.

Senior officers involved in the Cuban connection are:

Comandante Histrico Ramiro Valds: He was trained by the efficient and

brutal East-German intelligence agency (STASI). Valdes was the first chief of

Cubas repressive intelligence force (G-2). He is now Vice President of the Council

of State and member of Cubas Communist Party Politburo. Valdes has remained in

Venezuela for extended periods analyzing intelligence information on Venezuelan

military, active and potential opposition officers and retaliatory tactics to be

enforced.

General Leonardo Ramn Andollo (MINFAR): Second Chief of the General

Staff and Chief of Operations for the MINFAR. General Andollo is a highly trusted

link between Colombias narco-guerilla FARC and Venezuelas Armed Forces

officers. For over 15 years, General Andollo has been the principal liaison between

the Colombian and Venezuelan drug cartels .He has spent extended periods of time

in Venezuela. It is reported by MININT defectors (1) that General Andollo has met

with Colombian guerrilla leaders in safe areas controlled by the Venezuelan Cartel

de los Soles. (2)

General Carlos Fernndez Gondin (MININT): Second in Command of Cubas

Ministry of Interior (MININT). General Gondin and his staff officers are in overall

command of MININTs Special Forces (over 7,000) deployed in Venezuela.

General Alcibiades Muoz Gutierrez: Director of Intelligence for the MININT.

General Muoz Gutierrez officers are in charge of intelligence gathering, data

evaluation and tactical recommendations against Venezuelan students and political

opposition leaders.

Comandante Manuel Pieiro (known as Red Beard; deceased): former Vice-

Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Departamento America that was the

operational agency of Cubas Communist Party Politburo throughout Latin

America. Pieiro was the first high ranking Cuban military officer that in the

1970s established close links with the Colombian Marxist guerrilla and the drug

cartels (including Pablo Escobars Medellin Cartel).

In Panama, Pieiros officers had a large and efficient intelligence headquarters that

worked in close collaboration with General Omar Torrijos and later General Manuel Antonio

Noriega. Both Panamanian generals were heavily involved in drug trafficking and money

laundering.

Vice-Admiral Aldo Santamaria Cuadrado (deceased): former Chief of the

Cuban Navy. In 1983, the Vice Admiral was indicted by the United States

Southern District Court. The federal prosecutors Stanley Marcus and Richard

Gregorie headed the indictment against Santamaria Cuadrado for protecting and

supplying ships transporting drugs from Colombia to the Southern District of

Florida and elsewhere, by way of Cuba in violation of Title 21, United States

Code, Section 963. (3)

The connection between Cuba and Colombia drug cartels has been well documented and

later served Cuba to develop a working relationship between the Colombian narco-guerilla and

the Cartel de los Soles in Venezuela led today by several senior officers including General Hugo

Carvajal Barrios.

On February, 1991 the documentary Cuba and Cocaine exposed Cubas involvement in

narcotics trafficking. The production featured interviews with Reinaldo Ruiz, a Cuban who

admitted in American courts his involvement in drug trafficking, Carlos Ledher, one of the

founding members of the Medellin Cartel, General Rafael del Pino, Cubas highest ranking

officer who defected to the U.S., and U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Karonis, among others.

Following is the statement of US Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Karonis in Cuba and Cocaine:

The scenario would be for a small twin-engine airplane with maybe 1,000 to 2,000

pounds of cocaine, fly over Cuba, drop the drugs to a pre-designated rendezvous point to several

boats many times it would be under the eyes or at least a Cuban military vessel would be in

the immediate vicinity, right on scene with them.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Castro regime was in dire need of cash that would

replace the Soviet subsidies. During this period, drug trafficking routes involving Nicaragua (4)

and Panama (5) became prime operational areas. These drug trafficking links surfaced in the

indictment against Carlos Lehder who admitted meeting with Raul Castro to coordinate drug

shipments. Lehder also testified in the Southern District of Florida that Cuba controlled cocaine

trafficking in Nicaragua. (6)

The Cuban-Venezuela Drug Trafficking Connection

In 1999, Hugo Chavez rise to power in Venezuela changed the Castro brothers focus to

South America. The Cuban government became not only interested in the large subsidies

provided to them by Chavez government but also on the profitable drug trafficking routes

already existent in the Colombia-Venezuela border. Cubas prior involvement in narcotics

trafficking proved to be a valuable component in a growing partnership between Colombian and

Venezuelan drug cartels.

Senior Venezuelan officers involved with Cuba in drug trafficking:

General Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios El Pollo: Director of Military

Counter-Intelligence. On September 12, 2008 the U.S. Department of the

Treasury stated that General Armando Carvajal assisted the Colombian narco-

guerrilla (FARC) in smuggling drugs and weapon. (7) He has been one of the

most important links between Colombian drug cartels and the Venezuelan Cartel

de los Soles. He has used military vehicles, aircrafts and watercrafts for shipping

drugs to Europe, Mexico and the U.S.

Vassyly Kotosky Villarroel Ramirez: former captain of Venezuelas National

Guard. In 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury identified Villarroel

Ramiroz as aiding Mexican drug cartels and facilitating the transportation of

cocaine through Venezuelan territory. According to the report, Villarroel

Ramirez provided security and protection when cocaine loads and the proceeds

from Mexico were smuggled from or into Venezuelas Maiqueta International

Airport via commercial or private aircraft. He facilitated the cocaine loads from

Colombia through Venezuela in partnership with known drug traffickersThe

cocaine shipments benefited Mexican drug trafficking organizations,

specifically the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, and the Beltran Leyva Organization.

(8)

General Henry de Jess Rangel Silva: In 2008, the U.S. Department of the

Treasury stated that Rangel Silva has materially assisted the narcotics

trafficking activities of the FARC. He has also pushed for greater cooperation

between the Venezuelan government and the FARC. (9) General Rangel Silva

is the current governor of Trujillo, Venezuela, member of the Socialist Party of

Venezuela (PSUV), former Minister of Defense and former head of the

intelligence and counter-intelligence service (DISIP). He was promoted by the

late Hugo Chavez to General-in-Chief, the highest rank in the Venezuelan

military.

Ramn Rodrguez Chacn: In 2008, the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated

that Ramon Emilio Rodriguez Chacn, who was Venezuela's Minister of Interior

and Justice until September 8 of that same year, is one of Venezuelas source of

weapons supply to the Colombian narco-guerrilla, which pays in cash for

equipment and for protection (provided by the Cartel de los Soles) of drug

routes throughout Venezuelan territory. (10)

Chacn is a retired naval officer, member of the Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and

governor of Gurico, Venezuela. German magazine Der Spiegel reported that he travelled

periodically to FARC camps and was assigned by the late Hugo Chavez to manage the complex

illegal transactions between the FARC, Venezuela and Cuba for the supply of weapons, and

money laundering.

General Cliver Alcal Cordones: is a high ranking member of the Cartel de

los Soles. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, General Alcal

Cordones has used his position to establish an arms-for-drugs route with the

FARC. (11) Commander of the Eastern Army. In 2011, the United States

Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) listed him as

supporting terrorist organizations and narcotics and arms trafficking activities.

(12) His brother is Gen. Carlos Alcal Cordones.

General Carlos Alcal Cordones: current Mayor of Vargas, Venezuela.

Former Chief of the Army (appointed by Chavez in 2012-2013). In 2011, the

United States government issued a statement barring Americans from engaging

in business with Gen. Cordones because of his links to the FARC. (13)

General Nestor Reverol Torres: accused in 2010 by drug kingpin Walid Makled

Garcia as one of his collaborators smuggling drugs from Colombia to Venezuela.

(14)

Conclusion

During the past decade Cuba and Venezuela have forged a close political and military

alliance. On the Cuban side, the Castro regime provides Venezuela military and security support.

Several thousand Cuban military personal and advisors are now in the country. Several thousand

Cuban doctors are also in Venezuela as part of Castros expanding international medical

programs. In addition, the Cuban military helped establish a relationship between the Venezuelan

military and the Colombian narco-guerrilla, making Venezuela a major drug transshipment point

toward the U.S. and Europe.

According to economist Carmelo Mesa-Lago, Venezuela is providing an estimated $13

billion (15) in yearly aid to Cuba, including 80,000-100,000 barrels of petroleum daily. The

Maduro regime has also invested in rebuilding the old Russian refinery of Cienfuegos.

Cuba has a major stake in Venezuela and in protecting these subsidies. The recent

increase in Cuban troops sent to Venezuela highlights the Castros commitment to the survival of

the Chavista regime and their concern with the growing violence in the country.

The most troubling aspects of this relationship are the growing drug trafficking and the

continuous opposition to U.S. policies. The inclusion of Iran in rounding out this triumvirate, has

added a dimension of strategic importance. The proximity of Cuba and Venezuela to the U.S.

makes the two countries ideal platforms for anti-American activities, specifically in the event of

a U.S. conflict with Iran. These two allies may be called upon to support Iranian policies and

objectives.

Note: other high ranking Cuban officers involved in the Venezuela-Cuba military operation are General Alejandro Ronda Marrero, General de los Pinchos Duros, and Vice-Admiral Julio Cesar Gandarilla, Chief of the Military Counter-Intelligence.

Notes (1) Information on Venezuela-Cuba military cooperation with the Colombian guerrillas was provided by a MININT defector. In early March 2014, the author interviewed in Miami this former MININT officer. The officer traveled several times to safe areas in Venezuela with General Andollo to meet with high ranking comandantes of Colombias narco-guerrilla protected by the Cartel de los Soles. Also, two other high ranking Venezuelan officers interviewed for this report confirmed the Cuban involvement. (2) The term Cartel de los Soles was reportedly first used in 1993 when two National Guard generals, anti-drug chief Ramon Guillen Davila and his successor Orlando Hernandez Villegas, were investigated for drug trafficking and other related crimes. As brigade commanders, each wore a single sun as insignia on their shoulders, giving rise to the name Cartel of the Sun (later on, when allegations emerged that division commanders- given double suns in their ranking- were involved in the drug trade, the term became the Cartel de los Soles ). (3) United States District Court Southern District of Florida. NO 82-643 Cr-JE. There is no pending case since the defendant, Aldo Santamaria, was not apprehended in Cuba to stand trial in Florida and later passed away. (4) At the time, Sandinista Daniel Ortega was the Head of Government. (5) At the time, General Manuel Noriega was the Head of Government. (6) Fernandez, Ralph. Historical Assessment of Terrorist Activity and Narcotic Trafficking by the Republic of Cuba. Fernandez & Diaz, P.A. 2003. (7) Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC. U.S. Department of the Treasury. September 12, 2008 (8) Treasury Targets Venezuelan Narcotics Trafficker. U.S. Department of the Treasury. August 21, 2013. (9)Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC, 2008. (10) Ibid. (11) Treasury Designated Four Venezuelan Officials for Providing Arms and Security to the FARC. U.S. Department of the Treasury. September 08, 2011. (12) Ibid. (13) Ibid. (14) Poleo, Patricia. Lista de Oficiales Implicados por Walid Makled. El Nuevo Pais. November 13, 2010. (15) Montaner, Carlos Alberto. Cuba: The Selling of a Nation. The Miami Herald. February 3, 2014. *Pedro Roig is senior research associate and lecturer at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami. Dr. Roig has taught Cuban history courses at various institutions and was former director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) Radio & TV Marti. He holds a Masters of Arts degree from University of Miami and a Juris Doctor Degree from St. Thomas University. He has written several books including The Death of a Dream: A History of Cuba and Marti: The Cuban Struggle for Freedom. He is a veteran of the Brigade 2506.