NPP lawmakers fire back after Maduro’s remarks about PR role in US military actions

Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero (Facebook via José Che Pérez Cordero)

By THE STAR STAFF

New Progressive Party (NPP) Reps. José Aponte Hernández, José “Che” Pérez Cordero, Lourdes Ramos Rivera, Víctor Parés Otero, and Emilio Carlo Acosta on Tuesday described Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s remarks earlier this week about Puerto Rico and Gov. Jenniffer González Colón as an “act of desperation.”

The legislators recalled that just a few months ago, Maduro publicly called for the invasion of Puerto Rico to “make it independent.”

On Monday, Maduro, whose government, the lawmakers noted, is recognized by only a handful of nations, the vast majority of them authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, North Korea, Nicaragua and Iran, said on Russian television that the Puerto Rico governor is joining “a military plan” by the United States against his country.

“This is the same Nicolás Maduro who, in February, called on the Brazilian government to invade Puerto Rico,” the legislators said in a written statement. “He is the same dictator who overwhelmingly lost the July 2024 elections and stole them, maintaining an illegitimate presidency. He is the same oppressor who keeps millions of Venezuelans living in extreme poverty, eradicates freedom of expression, and imprisons all who oppose him, not to mention those who disappear. His statements yesterday, in a media outlet paid for by another dictatorial and oppressive government, that of the Russian Federation, against Puerto Rico, are understood as an act of intimidation to provoke fear, which he has in the face of the actions of the United States Army.”

“Maduro knows that his game of getting rich off the illegal drugs he and his associates allow to transit through Venezuela is coming to an end,” the statement said. “Data indicates that in 2020, Venezuela served as a port for between 200 and 250 metric tons of cocaine, destined for the United States, including Puerto Rico. That’s equivalent to 13 percent of all cocaine worldwide. Now that our nation is taking concrete actions to eradicate this flow, Maduro is afraid, and that’s why he’s spouting what we can only describe as senseless foolishness.”

“Maduro is cornered by his own actions,” the NPP lawmakers said in the statement. “In Puerto Rico, we are not afraid to act on behalf of our citizens, supporting the necessary actions to stem the flow of drugs from Venezuela. Our nation’s Armed Forces will take the actions they deem appropriate.”

On Monday, González Colón downplayed concerns about any retaliation against Puerto Rico in light of the U.S. government’s offensive against Venezuela and its staging of operations at military installations on the island.

“Who’s going to attack us? Maduro’s yola?” the governor said at a press conference. “I believe the naval power of the United States is evident. The power in logistics, in equipment, the thousands of Puerto Rican soldiers who defend our nation in every battle. So, it’s great that we have this presence here and that we are being protected.”

González Colón insisted that the U.S. military actions seek to attack drug trafficking.

“This must have an impact on reducing the number of drugs entering the country and the crime affecting the island,” she said. “Everyone knows that drugs enter through our coasts, coming from Colombia and Venezuela. More and more drugs continue to arrive here, drugs that rob our people of their lives. Most violent crimes in Puerto Rico are the result of the drug wars. And from here, those drugs travel to the United States, to the East Coast.”

The governor added that the U.S. military activities will continue, and that “Puerto Rico can once again position itself as an operations and logistics hub for the United States government to South America, Africa, and Europe, thanks to its strategic location.”

On Monday morning, as reported by the STAR, González Colón received U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at Muñiz Air Base in Carolina, along with Adjt. Gen. Carlos José Rivera Román and Public Safety Secretary Arthur Garffer. The meeting focused on support for the military personnel stationed in Puerto Rico and efforts against drug trafficking in the region.

On Tuesday, W. Stephen Muldrow, the U.S. attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, said he has “no doubt” that the Venezuelan “Cartel of the Suns” (Cartel de los Soles) plays a major role in the drug trafficking that arrives from the Caribbean Sea in Puerto Rico and its transshipment to the East Coast of the United States.

The so-called “Cartel of the Suns” is made up of Venezuelan military and other officials who use the symbol of the sun to mark their ranks. It is alleged to have allowed the movement of drug shipments from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru or Ecuador in exchange for money, and is also alleged to assist the “Tren de Aragua” organization and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC by its acronym in Spanish, in drug trafficking.

“Well, as we know, countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador are countries of origin for cocaine, and now they’re producing more in Mexico and other places,” Muldrow said at a press conference. “Fentanyl, methamphetamine, and many drugs that they’re sending to the United States. Like another terrorist organization that was designated, the Cartel of the Suns is also a state sponsor of all these types of crimes, whether it’s drug trafficking or any other crime. Tren de Aragua is a tool for them to ship drugs and also to commit crimes in the United States, just like many other countries in South America. Obviously, they controlled the drugs in their country that were being sent directly to Puerto Rico. So, that means these cartels are part of the problem here in Puerto Rico.”

The U.S. Justice Department links Maduro and Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Justice, and Peace Diosdado Cabello Rondón as leaders of the so-called “Cartel de los Soles.” There is a $50 million reward for the capture of Maduro and a $25 million reward for Cabello Rondón.

Asked whether drug trafficking cases arising from President Donald Trump’s offensive in the waters near Venezuela will be handled in Puerto Rico, Muldrow replied that “as everyone knows, the administration and the Department of Justice are working to eliminate the cartels.”

“That includes those who are sending this poison, this drug, to the coast of Puerto Rico and the United States,” he said. “As we know, drugs enter Puerto Rico directly on speedboats in different ways. And when those drugs arrive in Puerto Rico on speedboats, we will continue to arrest and prosecute those criminals in federal court. And that will be part of the tools we have to put an end to these cartels.”

Muldrow sent a message to the drug trafficking organizations.

“We are very grateful for the resources available here to put an end to these drugs entering Puerto Rico, which are causing so much harm to the community with violence and drug dealing,” the island’s top federal prosecutor said. “They aren’t committing crimes of violence against so many innocent people over shoes or anything else. They’re harming our communities with drugs and the money they earn from them. And I want to send a message: if you decide to commit acts of violence in the community, you’re at the top of the list. If you want the full weight of the federal and state governments to pay attention, keep committing these crimes of violence, and we’ll knock on your door at 6 a.m. and arrest you and anyone else helping that person commit those crimes. It’s over for these cartels to believe they can do what they want to do.”