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"I write to atone for my sins by telling the whole truth, so that the United States can protect itself from the dangers I witnessed for so many years," began Hugo Armando "El Pollo" Carvajal, former director of Military Intelligence in Venezuela, in a high-stakes political letter sent from his cell in a federal prison in the United States to President Trump.
In the letter, exclusively revealed by The Dallas Express, the former general not only reiterates that Nicolás Maduro's regime operates as a narco-terrorist organization, but also details the key role of Cuba in the conception of the Cartel of the Suns and other regional criminal structures.
Carvajal, a central figure in the chavista security apparatus for more than a decade, was extradited from Spain in 2023 and pleaded guilty in June 2025 before a U.S. federal court to conspiracy for drug trafficking and support for terrorist groups.
The letter, according to his lawyer Robert Feitel, a former prosecutor at the Department of Justice, seeks not only to collaborate with U.S. justice but also to warn about the magnitude of the criminal network that, he claims, has been led and supported by the regimes of Venezuela and Cuba.
Cuba: Strategic Brain of the Suns Cartel
One of Carvajal's most significant points is the role of Cuba in the genesis of the strategy of drug trafficking for geopolitical purposes.
"This plan was suggested by the Cuban regime to Chávez in the mid-2000s," he wrote.
According to the former intelligence chief, it was Havana that proposed using cocaine as a weapon to weaken the United States, a deliberate policy that was executed by chavismo with the support of the FARC, ELN, Hezbollah, and Cuban intelligence agents.
The retired major general claims that Cuban intelligence showed him "its networks within its naval bases on the East Coast. They boasted of having sent thousands of spies over the decades, some of whom are now career politicians."
It goes even further and claims that U.S. diplomats and agents were bribed to assist the regimes of Chávez and Maduro, acting as double agents in favor of Cuba and Venezuela.
"Some remain active to this day," he warned.
The Cartel of the Suns: From Venezuela to the Caribbean with a Cuban stamp
"The purpose of this organization, now known as the Cártel de los Soles, is to use drugs as a weapon against the United States," asserts Carvajal.
The organization would be led by Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and other high-ranking officials of chavismo. What had previously been an accusation supported by U.S. agencies, Carvajal confirms from within.
It assures that it was not a collusion between traditional drug traffickers and a corrupt state, but rather a state strategy carried out by the Venezuelan intelligence and military apparatus, with Cuban assistance.
Drugs did not "reach their cities through new routes" by chance: "they were deliberate policies coordinated by the Venezuelan regime against the United States."
Cuba's support would not have been solely logistical or training-based.
“The regime has provided weapons, passports, and impunity to these terrorist organizations so they can operate freely from Venezuela”, states the former general.
Aragua Train: an exported paramilitary gang
In another passage of the letter, Carvajal describes how chavismo designed and deployed internal criminal structures as political tools.
"I was present when decisions were made to organize and use criminal gangs throughout Venezuela as a weapon to protect the regime, including the group known as the Tren de Aragua," he explained.
Chávez would have given the order to recruit criminal leaders, even from prisons, to defend the revolution in exchange for impunity.
After his death, Maduro intensified this strategy, “exporting crime and chaos abroad” with the dual purpose of cleaning up internal statistics and targeting political exiles.
Carvajal asserts that following the "open borders" policy of the Biden-Harris administration, the regime took advantage of this to infiltrate these groups into U.S. territory.
"They now have obedient and armed personnel in the United States," he states.
Espionage, Russians, and Smartmatic
The letter also outlines a complex web of espionage and hybrid warfare.
Carvajal reveals that he witnessed the arrival of Russian intelligence agents in Caracas with a proposal to intervene in the undersea cables connecting South America to the United States, in order to spy on their communications.
Although he warned Maduro that this would have military consequences, he claims he was ignored.
Regarding the company Smartmatic, Carvajal claims that it was designed as a tool for electoral manipulation from the outset: "I know this because I appointed the head of IT at the National Electoral Council, and he reported directly to me. The Smartmatic system can be tampered with; this is a fact."
According to him, this technology was exported, even to the United States, where it is said to have been used for political purposes.
An undeclared war
The letter presents itself as both a political and judicial piece at the same time.
Carvajal offers cooperation to U.S. authorities and expresses willingness to provide further details in classified reports.
The goal: to strengthen the cases opened for drug trafficking and to reconfigure U.S. foreign policy towards Venezuela and Cuba.
“People of the United States, do not be mistaken about the threat posed by allowing a narco-terrorist organization to operate freely in the Caribbean,” he warns.
He adds that the regime he served "is not only hostile; it is at war with you, using drugs, gangs, espionage, and even its own democratic processes as weapons."
Reactions and political impact
The publication of this letter coincides with a new U.S. military offensive against Venezuelan narco-boats and the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the Caribbean.
In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that "the Maduro regime is not a legitimate government. It is a smuggling organization that facilitates the transit of cocaine through Venezuela bound for the United States."
The letter also comes at a time when Donald Trump has taken a tougher stance against Caracas.
According to Carvajal, "President Trump's policies against Maduro's criminal regime are not only justified, but also necessary and proportional to the threat."
The letter from Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal to Donald Trump not only confirms accusations that have been upheld for years against chavismo, but it also introduces a new level of implication: that of the Cuban regime as the ideologue and coordinator of an unconventional war against the United States.
If confirmed in court, their revelations could impact the future of hemispheric relations and reinforce the U.S. narrative that Venezuela and Cuba are no longer just political adversaries, but active players in an international criminal network with strategic objectives.
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