The letter from Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal to Trump is not just a legal strategy to gain procedural benefits; it exemplifies how Nicolás Maduro’s regime waged an endless war fueled by corruption and state-sponsored drug trafficking via the Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua.
While the communication from the former intelligence chief of chavismo seems like a desperate legal maneuver aimed at obtaining protected witness status or a reduction in sentence, it provides detailed information about the Cartel de los Soles, the Tren de Aragua, and the electoral interference orchestrated by Maduro’s criminal enterprise.
The seriousness of the former intelligence chief’s claims lies in his revelation of Cuba acting as the criminal brain, using Venezuela as a center for organized crime while successfully infiltrating U.S. political and military institutions.
However, even though Hugo El Pollo Carvajal’s public testimony offers significant geopolitical validation, it’s unlikely—at least for now—that prosecutors will accept his collaboration, as much of the information he presents may already be known to the authorities.
The letter from Hugo El Pollo Carvajal: implications
The letter from Hugo El Pollo Carvajal to Donald Trump undoubtedly carries strategic, legal, and geopolitical implications, given that it offers data from someone who led the National Directorate of Military Counterintelligence in Venezuela.
However, it’s crucial to note that the letter itself does not reveal new information to intelligence circles; rather, it’s simply a strategic and desperate move by Carvajal to secure procedural benefits and avoid a life sentence.
Its main value lies in its impact on public opinion, shifting the existence and functioning of a transnational criminal enterprise led by Nicolás Maduro from the realm of speculation to factual certainty, along with its instruments of action, namely the Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua.
In summary, the letter confirms decades of investigations revealing that the Venezuelan narcotyranny and its global network constitute the “belly of the beast” from which criminal actions extend throughout the continent. It highlights the vulnerability of Western democracies to corruption and unconventional warfare and underscores the urgent need for a restructuring of counterintelligence agencies in the United States.
Key points from the communication
Let’s examine the key points of El Pollo Carvajal’s letter to Trump:
Personal Motivation:
The letter is an attempt by Carvajal to be recognized as a collaborator by the U.S. justice system, a proposition that prosecutors have previously rejected. This isn’t an indication of existing cooperation but rather a public plea after the failure of formal channels.
Confirmation of Threats:
Carvajal confirmed that the Cartel de los Soles is a real structure of the Venezuelan state, that drug trafficking is used as a weapon of war against the United States, and that Cuba is the “head of the snake,” instigating and orchestrating the co-opting of Venezuela.
Institutional Penetration:
The actions described fall within an “infinite war,” where criminal organizations merge with state apparatus to destabilize the West. The expansion of this model through corruption in Europe, particularly in Spain, stands out as an emblematic case of infiltration.
Testimonial Value vs. Informational Value:
It’s likely that U.S. prosecutors already possess much of the information that Hugo El Pollo Carvajal presents. Its potential value does not lie in the intelligence he may provide but rather in his weight as a high-level witness in future trials against other figures in the Venezuelan regime.
The motives of El Pollo Carvajal
The letter from Hugo El Pollo Carvajal didn’t emerge in a vacuum; it’s the culmination of a series of legal and extralegal maneuvers aimed at a single goal: avoiding spending the rest of his life in a U.S. prison.
The former intelligence chief previously sent a memorandum to U.S. prosecutors detailing four key areas in which he offered his testimony: the Tren de Aragua, the Cartel de los Soles, electoral fraud (Smartmatic), and Iran’s influence. This offer of collaboration was rejected by the Department of Justice.
Last Resort Strategy:
With his formal offer rejected, the public letter to President Trump serves as a second step, a desperate tactic to grab the attention of the highest levels of U.S. executive power. If Carvajal were a protected witness, he wouldn’t need to plead for the President of the United States to pay attention to him.
Profile of the Operator:
Carvajal is an expert in intelligence and counterintelligence; he is not an naive actor. His history demonstrates a pattern of manipulation:
In Spain: Before his extradition, he offered information about the financing of the Venezuelan regime to left-wing parties like Podemos and figures like José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in an attempt to gain political asylum and avoid extradition.
In the United States: After his arrival, he attempted to obstruct justice by sending an intermediary to manipulate the testimony of a Mexican drug trafficker who was to testify against him.
Carvajal’s Final Aim:
Carvajal’s goal isn’t merely a reduction in sentence; all indications suggest he’s aiming for a result similar to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, seeking complete freedom. His clear objective is “not to die in a U.S. prison.”
Central Content of Carvajal’s Letter
Although the information presented in the letter is not novel, its importance lies in its confession from a key player. Carvajal validates and legitimizes years of journalistic and intelligence investigations.
Tema claveDescripción detallada según la fuenteCuba como eje del malCarvajal identifies Cuba as “the head of the snake.” He asserts that since 2000, Cuba “originated the practical and effective colonization of Venezuela” and induced Chávez’s regime to use drug trafficking as a weapon against the United States.El narcotráfico como arma de guerraThe letter acknowledges a “intentionality of drug trafficking” that transcends profit. It presents itself as a “weapon of war” designed to weaken U.S. institutions and population, a concept framed within the “infinite war.”The “Cartel de los Soles”Carvajal makes a “self-confession” and a “public self-incrimination” confirming the existence of the Cartel de los Soles, refuting the Venezuelan regime’s narrative labeling it as an “invention of the United States.”The criminal Venezuelan stateThe Venezuelan state has been put at the service of drug trafficking, providing “weapons, passports, and above all, impunity.” There’s no boundary between public function and organized crime; the state serves as an instrument of the criminal corporation.Transnational AlliancesConfirms the participation of both state and non-state actors as partners in this criminal enterprise, including FARC, ELN, and Hezbollah, along with the support of U.S. adversaries like Iran, Russia, and China.Penetration and espionage in the U.S.This is one of the most serious points. Carvajal claims that Cubans showed him how they have “penetrated deep into the structure and framework of armed, political, and intelligence institutions in the U.S.” He asserts that these agents “are today within the United States and influence the narrative, politics, and the construction of public opinion.” It is mentioned that the depth of this penetration exceeds known cases such as Ana Belén Montes, the Wasp Network, or Víctor Manuel Rocha.
Legal and Strategic Implications
Analyzing the letter reveals a duality: while its media and political impact is significant, its legal value remains uncertain.
The primary effect of the letter is to legitimize the narrative around the Venezuelan narco-state. It moves issues such as the Cartel de los Soles, electoral interference, and Cuba’s role out of the “speculation framework” and puts them into the “certainty framework” for the general public. It serves as a “vindication of decades of well-done work” by journalists and researchers who had been discredited.
The most plausible reason why prosecutors have not accepted Carvajal as a protected witness is that he offers nothing that they don’t already have in their possession. U.S. intelligence already has databases and testimonies covering what he provides.
Carvajal’s true value to prosecutors lies not in the information he has, but in his testimony in future trials. The testimony of a low-level operator cannot be compared to that of the former intelligence chief who negotiated directly with Hugo Chávez in Iran. His figure holds significant weight and an important perspective facing jury members.
Carvajal and his propaganda team are exploiting the current political context in the U.S., where combating the Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua is a top priority.
The Infinite War
The revelations of Hugo El Pollo Carvajal fall within a broader concept of hybrid warfare, where the boundaries between crime, politics, and war dissolve.
He describes a model where criminal organizations evolve. They no longer focus solely on the profits from drug trafficking but turn into “hybrid organizations” with political mobilization capabilities, with the end goal of “taking power” and “becoming governments.”
This model, perfected by Cuban intelligence with Soviet know-how, has been successfully implemented in Venezuela. From there, it is exported to destabilize the region and beyond.
Threat to U.S. National Security
Carvajal’s letter serves as a serious warning about the internal vulnerabilities of the United States in the face of this form of aggression.
The assertion that Cuban agents and those from other hostile nations have corrupted and co-opted U.S. officials exposes the frailty of U.S. counterintelligence systems and their vulnerability to this corruption.
The revelations confirm the assessments of experts and high-ranking officials regarding the urgent need for reengineering the intelligence system to establish a professional counterintelligence apparatus that is immune to political influence.
The threat isn’t theoretical or external; Carvajal’s letter claims that corrupt agents and spies are on the inside, operating on behalf of transnational crime, impacting the nation’s decision-making. This includes high-ranking elected officials.
The letter warns that a direct attack on the heads of the Cartel de los Soles in Venezuela could lead to the “activation of internal cells” to create chaos within the United States. Additionally, it denounces that members and allies of the Cartel de los Soles, who infiltrated the country due to open border policies, already dominate all lines of food and goods distribution in major cities, including New York and Miami.
Watch the discussion on “The Letter from El Pollo Carvajal: Intelligence or Sentence Reduction?” on Sin Filtros: