Cuba Defends Against Allegations of Drug Trafficking Involvement Amidst Rising Regional Tensions
Havana held anโ unusual press conference this Thursday to address explosive allegationsโข linking the Cubanโ government to drug trafficking operations orchestrated by Venezuela’s “Cartel of the Suns.”โค The response comesโค following the public release of a letter fromโค Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal, โformer head ofโ intelligence โคunder Venezuelan President nicolรกs โMaduro, currently detained in a โขUS federal prison.
Cuban โofficials โขfrom the Ministry of โthe Interior โ(MININT) and the Ministryโ of Justice emphatically denied โคany involvement in drugโค production orโ transit, reiterating a “zero tolerance” policy and highlighting ongoingโ cooperation withโข the United โStates datingโฃ back to 2016 to combat narcotics trafficking. Officials โขcited real-time data sharing with the โUS โCoast Guard as evidence of this collaboration,as reported by โ EFE.
Though, the press conference also served as a โขplatform to โฃcriticize increased US military presence in the Caribbean, specifically focusing on deployments near Venezuela, which Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, head of MININT’s โAnti-Drug Confrontation Body, characterizedโข as a “serious threat to the security and sovereignty”โข of Cuba.
carvajal’s letter, published by Theโ Dallas Express and CiberCuba, alleges โฃthat โขCuba was โthe “strategicโ brain”โ behind a plan proposed to Hugo Chรกvez to utilize cocaine โฃas a geopolitical weapon against โthe โUnited โคStates. He โclaims Cuban โฃagents were instrumentalโ in establishing the criminal network that became the Cartel of the Suns,coordinating โoperations with โขgroups โขincluding the FARC,ELN,and Hezbollah.
Specifically,โ carvajal asserts that Cuba provided weapons,โ documentation, and intelligence โขsupport to allow criminal organizations toโ operate within โฃVenezuela. He โfurther alleges Cuban intelligence โoperatives infiltratedโ USโฃ naval basesโ and that US diplomats were compromised throughโค bribery to act as agents โfor both Caracas and โคHavana.
While Cubanโข officials โdid not directly address Carvajal or his letterโฃ during the press conference, the defensive natureโ of โขtheir statements suggestsโค the allegations are being taken seriously.
The response occurs against a backdrop of increasingโข domestic โคdrug consumption in Cuba,particularly among young people. Official figures indicate over two โขtons of drugs have been seized this year, โbut authorities continue to frame โขthe issue primarily as a “public order” problem.
