Mercedes de Freitas, director of the NGO Transparencia Venezuela, warned about the massive scale of corruption and drug trafficking linked to Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which already poses a regional risk. She highlighted that the military deployment by the United States in the Caribbean will help cut off the flow of these resources.
In an interview with Carolina Amoroso on TN, De Freitas explained that 24% of the drugs circulating worldwide pass through Venezuela, meaning $8.2 billion in illicit income for the Chavista regime in just 2024.
“We’re talking about an amount similar to the national budget of Venezuela. All the money the State has to spend this year is equivalent to what it receives from drug trafficking”, she emphasized.
The director of Transparencia Venezuela, currently in exile due to persecution from the regime, pointed out that the U.S. naval deployment in the Caribbean will complicate both drug trafficking and oil smuggling via ghost fleets that evade sanctions. “With these vessels in the Caribbean, it’ll be very difficult for them to enter and exit freely. This disrupts the flow not only of drug money into the pockets of the high government but also of oil revenues into the country’s coffers,” she noted.
The activist stated that the designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a global terrorist organization by the United States marks a significant shift in how the Maduro regime is confronted: “Transitioning from an authoritarian government to a drug-trafficking government changes the logic of how to address it. For other countries, it will be very difficult to maintain stable relations with a government that is not only authoritarian but also depends on drug trafficking.”
Regarding structural corruption, De Freitas identified PDVSA as the epicenter. “This state-owned company, which once ranked among the top in the world, has become what we call the ‘mother of corruption.’ Almost everything originates from there: contracts, money laundering, and illegal payments,” she denounced.
Finally, De Freitas stated that the looting of the country has exceeded $200 billion over 26 years of Chavismo and warned that the destruction of the justice system hinders the prevention of impunity. “There isn’t a single independent judge or prosecutor. How can we measure the cost of rebuilding that or the pain of repression victims? Some things are just incalculable,” she lamented.
TN/ We monitor