A report by Bloomberg published this Monday about the transfer of businessman Álvaro Pulido Vargas to U.S. justice included a mention that has raised alarms in chavista circles: among those whose custody Washington is seeking are former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami and former President of the Supreme Court Maikel Moreno.
The financial media does not claim that both are the next to be extradited, but it explicitly identifies them as targets of U.S. authorities within the framework of judicial cooperation that has continued to grow since the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3rd.
Among those sought by U.S. authorities are former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, detained in Venezuela since 2024, and former Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno, noted the text from Bloomberg.
The context surrounding that mention is what makes it significant.
Pulido Vargas is at least the third person transferred from Venezuela to the U.S. in 2026, and the second just in October. Before him, in May, Venezuela handed over Alex Saab —former financial advisor and former minister of Maduro— who pleaded guilty to money laundering in a federal court in Miami in July.
At the beginning of this month, Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre was sent to answer charges of bank fraud and material support to terrorists.
This pattern of sustained deliveries reflects the policy of the acting president Delcy Rodríguez, who has redirected Venezuela towards the priorities of Washington since replacing Maduro. Bloomberg describes this shift as "an increasing police cooperation between Caracas and Washington".
Trump met with Rodríguez in New York in September, and the U.S. removed her from its sanctions list last April, acknowledging her immunity as head of state.
The political framework of these measures is the three-phase plan outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio: stabilization, economic recovery, and transition with free and multi-party elections, which Washington uses as a roadmap to normalize relations with Caracas in exchange for judicial cooperation and economic opening.
In that scenario, El Aissami and Moreno possess all the qualifications to be natural candidates.
The first, former vice president and former minister of Oil, was formally accused by the U.S. in 2019 of drug trafficking links, with a reward of 10 million dollars for information regarding his whereabouts, and has been detained in Venezuela since April 2024.
The second one, who presided over the Supreme Court from 2017 to 2022, was accused in 2020 of money laundering and bribery to influence judicial decisions, with a reward of five million dollars.
There is, however, a legal obstacle that Caracas has had to navigate with each extradition: the Venezuelan Constitution prohibits the extradition of its citizens. Bloomberg points out that this hurdle "raises new questions about how Caracas is conducting the extradition," without the government publicly explaining the legal mechanism it is using.
Meanwhile, Maduro and Cilia Flores remain detained in Brooklyn, where they face charges of narcoterrorism and, since October 8, a new accusation of conspiracy to commit torture, highlighting that Washington's judicial pressure on the Chavista environment shows no signs of slowing down.
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