The CIA is exercising its state-secrets privilege in an ongoing effort to conceal its connections to former Venezuelan Gen. Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, who’s accused of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy with the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Cordones conspired with Maduro, other top Venezuelan regime officials, and members of Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to ship cocaine to the United States. Cordones and the others did so for roughly two decades to fund their operations, as well as to “undermine the health and well-being of our nation,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said when announcing the charges in March 2020.
