American justice sentences Clíver Alcalá to 21 years in prison

The US justice system has sentenced former Venezuelan military officer Clíver Alcalá to 21 years in prison for providing material support, including firearms, to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and for having links to the drug trafficking organisation known as the Cartel de los Soles.

According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, the ruling determines that Alcalá, 62, acted together with other high-ranking Venezuelan officials as the leader and manager of the Cartel de los Soles, “abusing the Venezuelan people and corrupting the legitimate institutions of Venezuela” to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States in association with the FARC.

In addition to the prison sentence, the Venezuelan was sentenced to three years of probation.

Alcalá was charged with six counts of narcoterrorism, support for terrorism, cocaine smuggling and weapons possession. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to negotiate the terms of his sentence, although he refused to accept the drug trafficking charges.

Alcalá and his ties to Chavismo

Originally from Caracas, he was a prominent figure in Chavismo, although he broke ties with the regime in 2013 and in 2020 the Justice Department accused him of leading a plan to depose Nicolás Maduro and assassinate the main figures of the regime, in addition to alleged crimes of treason, illicit trafficking of weapons of war, terrorism and association.

In March of that year, the former military officer, who lived in Colombia, turned himself in to the North American authorities after being accused of being involved in drug trafficking.

Millions in bribes

The Justice Department says that around 2006, Alcalá used his position in the Army to prevent arrests, provide protection and provide high-powered weapons to FARC members, including high-ranking leaders such as Luciano Marín Arango and Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri.

According to the verdict, Alcalá participated in meetings with some of the biggest drug traffickers in Latin America, in which he discussed how he and the cartel could help the FARC distribute cocaine. In exchange for his services on behalf of the terrorist group, the Venezuelan received millions of dollars in bribes.

The US justice system has categorically stated that the aim of the Cartel de los Soles was, in addition to enriching its members and increasing their power, “to turn cocaine into a weapon by inflicting the harmful and addictive effects of the drug on consumers in the United States.”

“Alcalá Cordones corrupted the vital institutions of his own country while helping the FARC flood this country with cocaine, but no longer. Instead, he will now spend more than two decades in a U.S. prison,” said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

In addition to Alcalá, the United States has a similar trial pending against the former intelligence chief, Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, accused of introducing cocaine into the country.