Former Maduro Intelligence Chief Alleges Chavista Funding of Petro Campaign, Links to FARC in US Court Testimony
Madrid, Spain – A dramatic turn in the U.S. case against Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, known as “El Pollo,” has revealed allegations of financial support from the Venezuelan Chavista regime to Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s 2018 presidential campaign, alongside renewed claims of collaboration between the FARC guerilla group and high-ranking Venezuelan officials.Carvajal, former head of Venezuelan military intelligence, admitted in testimony before Judge Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York to participating in a cocaine trafficking network wiht the FARC, but also made the explosive claims regarding Petro and the alleged use of state resources to facilitate illicit operations.
The allegations, stemming from Carvajal’s cooperation with U.S. authorities after years evading justice, center on accusations that the Nicolás Maduro regime provided financial backing to Petro’s campaign. Colombian President Petro has vehemently denied any financial link to Maduro, dismissing the accusations as unfounded. Though, the legal weight of Carvajal’s statements hinges on their formal inclusion in court records, corroborating self-reliant evidence, and assessment by relevant authorities. This development adds a new layer of complexity to the already fraught political relationship between Colombia and Venezuela, and raises questions about the origins of funding for Petro’s successful bid for the presidency.
Carvajal accepted responsibility for his role in a drug trafficking structure coordinated with the FARC earlier this year. According to the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office,this network coordinated cocaine shipments to the United States. “Hugo armando carvajal Barrios was one of the most powerful men in Venezuela. For years, he and other officials of the Los Soles Cartel used cocaine as a weapon, flooding New York and other American cities with poison,” stated Jay Clayton, federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.
U.S. prosecutors allege that the network operated for years under the protection of high-ranking Venezuelan officials, leveraging state resources to facilitate illicit activities and forge political and military alliances with insurgent groups like the FARC. Carvajal was captured in Madrid in 2019 after years as a fugitive. The case underscores the long-standing U.S. concerns about the intersection of drug trafficking, political corruption, and support for armed groups in Venezuela and the wider region.
