Clíver Alcalá (circled in red) being "deported" to the US. He is not in handcuffs. Hugs and handshakes were part of the "operation," similar to picking up a top US bureaucrat. Photo: Infobae.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—United States federal prosecutors dropped drug trafficking charges against fugitive General Clíver Alcalá. Alcalá is a fugitive from Venezuelan justice for his role in the organization of the failed mercenary plot known as Operation Gideon.
Venezuela requested Alcalá’s extradition so that he could be tried for the crimes of treason, illicit trafficking of weapons of war, terrorism and association. All crimes were committed during the organization of the so-called Operation Gideon, which was intended to remove President Nicolás Maduro from office.
Six US Citizens Indicted in Venezuela on Conspiracy Charges and Related Crimes (+Operation Gideon)
According to AP Latin America correspondent Joshua Goodman, Alcalá reportedly pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of “aiding a foreign terrorist organization.”
For many analysts, Alcalá’s deportation to the US was a smoke screen to cover up US involvement in the organization of Operation Gideon. This recent decision to drop drug trafficking charges against Alcalá seems to be another element pointing in that direction.
“Federal prosecutors drop narco-terrorism charges against ex-Venezuelan General Clíver Alcalá. Alcalá, who years later led an effort to topple Nicolás Maduro with several American green berets, today pleaded guilty to lesser offenses of aiding a foreign terrorist organization,” Goodman wrote on social media.
NEW: Federal prosecutors drop narco-terrorism charges against ex Venezuelan Gen Cliver Alcala.
Alcala, who years later led an effort to topple @NicolasMaduro with several American green berets, today pleaded guilty to lesser offenses of aiding a foreign terrorist organization. pic.twitter.com/y7wLACMWPF
— Joshua Goodman (@APjoshgoodman) June 30, 2023
On May 3, 2020, Venezuelan authorities neutralized a mercenary invasion known as Operation Gideon. The incursion was plotted and organized in Colombia with the White House’s involvement. It used mercenaries who left Colombia in speedboats in an attempt to enter Venezuelan territory through the beaches of the central states of La Guaira and Aragua.
The terrorist plot was neutralized by Venezuela’s advanced intelligence network and the civic-military union led by the Venezuelan military. Since then, all coordination mechanisms between the military and organized communities have been enhanced in order to repel aggression from neighboring countries or the United States.
28Mar | Momento en que Alcalá Cordones abordó el avión, tras entregarse a las autoridades colombianas para ser extraditado a #EEUU / Video cortesía: @infobaeamerica / Más detalles en nuestro portal: https://t.co/r7lAkY3DbE pic.twitter.com/xF3U6Koko9
— Caraota Digital (@CaraotaDigital) March 28, 2020
“The expedited, US-led ‘deportation’ operation of Clíver Alcalá [from Colombia] is solid evidence of the US and Colombian involvement in the plot. Less than 48 hours after the plot was uncovered, the US put him on a bounty list, sent a plane to Colombia in the middle of COVID-19 flight restrictions, and took him back to his master’s headquarters without even using handcuffs to deflect public notice,” said Orinoco Tribune’s editor, Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza, when consulted about this issue in May 2020.
“In a video posted on Twitter, you can see in a clear blue long-sleeve shirt how the mercenary Clíver Alcalá boards the special flight that President Trump sent to rescue him. It resembles more a family gathering than a deportation procedure,” he added.
Orinoco Tribune Special by staff
OT/JRE/SF
