Editor’s Note
This article presents Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s strong rebuttal to U.S. allegations of a “Cartel of the Suns” in Venezuela, framing them as a political pretext. The views expressed are those of the president and reflect ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has stated that US allegations regarding the existence of a drug trafficking organization called the “Cartel of the Suns” in Venezuela are a “far-right excuse to overthrow governments that don’t obey.”
In multiple posts on social media platform X, Petro asserted that drug trafficking between Colombia and Venezuela is coordinated by an organization named the Junta del Narcotrafico. He further claimed that “the transit of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela is controlled by the Junta del Narcotrafico, whose leaders reside in Europe and the Middle East.”
According to US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is the leader of the Cartel of the Suns, which is accused of trafficking tons of cocaine to the United States. US authorities claimed to have dismantled this “super cartel” after the arrest of its alleged “boss of bosses,” Julio Lozano, in 2012.
Despite his prominent role in the global drug trade, Lozano was released from a US prison in 2016 and has since obtained a residential visa in the United Arab Emirates. Wiretaps revealed in 2021 that Lozano teamed up with the paramilitary group EGC to resume control over Bogota and disputed emerald mines in the Boyaca provinces. His organization reportedly has longstanding ties to Colombia’s security forces and has apparently infiltrated the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
The prosecution and the National Police have yet to admit the resurgence of the Junta and its alleged involvement in at least a dozen assassinations of emerald mining executives and former Junta bosses in Bogota and the surrounding Cundinamarca province. President Petro stated that he has proposed to both Venezuelan and US authorities to shut down the Junta’s operations through multilateral cooperation.