Trump's Cuba Policy

Kidnappings by Trump’s narco-democracy

Kidnappings by Trump’s narco-democracy

The current US president’s elective affinities with drug traffickers are nothing new

Author:  | nternet@granma.cu

Photo: JORGE

Following the unacceptable kidnapping of the legitimate Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and Congresswoman Cilia Flores, U.S. judicial authorities have decided to revoke the accusation that the president led the Cartel of the Suns. For more than a decade, this accusation was used to delegitimize the Chavista authorities, and two months ago it became the central propaganda weapon to justify the blockade of the Bolivarian Republic, the murder of more than a hundred crew members of ships in the Caribbean, the bombing of a sovereign country, and the kidnapping of two of its institutional authorities.
Meanwhile, hidden under a thick veil of secrecy, U.S. President Donald Trump has become the first head of state to govern for the drug cartels. During his first term, between 2017 and 2021, the tycoon signed 144 pardons and 94 commutations of sentences. A large part of these pardons were granted to criminals convicted of drug trafficking offenses. The most high-profile case was that of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced on March 8, 2024, to 45 years in prison for leading a drug trafficking network that sold 400 tons of cocaine within the United States, in association with Mexican Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. In its reasoning for the sentence, the court considered that Juan Orlando “turned Honduras into a narco-state between 2014 and 2022.” According to jurist Kermit Roosevelt, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the pardons granted by Trump to those convicted of drug trafficking are the result of financial contributions made by lobbyists and/or relatives of the convicted.
The shameless modus operandi used to secure the release of drug traffickers was exposed in leaks disseminated by legislative advisors, who revealed Marco Rubio’s close ties to the BGR Group, a lobbying organization tasked with securing the release of Juan Orlando Hernández. This consulting firm presents itself as focused on “high-performance personalized advisory and lobbying services.” According to the Foreign Agents Registration Office (FARA), Juan Orlando Hernández hired the BGR Group from 2018 until the end of his term in 2021, paying $660,000 annually to promote his image in the halls of the Capitol in Washington. Before Juan Orlando Hernández smuggled 400 tons of cocaine through Miami, the BGR Group was responsible for coordinating and guiding Marco Rubio’s Senate election campaigns in both 2010 and 2016. According to several Democratic senators’ advisors, it was Rubio who put Juan Orlando’s relatives in touch with BGR, which explains the dissemination of reports by the consulting firm in which Juan Orlando Hernández was characterized as “a key ally in the fight against organized crime.”
Rubio’s connection to drug traffickers is a family affair. As a teenager, the current Secretary of State lived for periods at the home of his older sister, Barbara, who was married to Cuban Orlando Cicilia, a prominent figure in Miami’s Cuban exile community and a member of the “cocaine jockeys.” Marco Rubio’s brother-in-law was the subordinate of one of Miami’s mafia bosses, Mario Tabraue, who had participated in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. When Cicilia was arrested, several kilos of cocaine were found in the home where Rubio was staying. Tabraue was sentenced to life in prison and Cicilia to 25 years. But both were released from prison after becoming cooperating informants. Cicilia managed to reinsert himself into the Miami rat pack thanks to the current Secretary of State, who arranged for him to obtain a real estate broker’s license, a credential that is not granted to former drug traffickers. Marco Rubio, already in the political race, managed to overcome that obstacle. The business of the “cocaine jockeys” was recreated by Brian De Palma in his film Scarface. Tabraue is portrayed in the film as the gentle Tony Montana. Good guys.
The Trump administration’s leniency toward drug traffickers included pardoning Ross William Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road, the largest online marketplace for illegal pills. The beneficiary had been sentenced to life in prison—without the possibility of parole—in 2015. Alice Marie Johnson, imprisoned for cocaine distribution, and Ronen Nahmani, convicted in 2015 for selling synthetic drugs in Florida, were also granted pardons. Weldon Angelos, sentenced to 55 years in prison for possession of military weapons and drug trafficking, enjoyed the same privilege. The same favor was granted to Pastor Otis Gordon, who, in addition to administering communion, was involved in drug distribution. Roy Wayne McKeever was another who deserved presidential clemency: he had been arrested in 1989 for trafficking marijuana from Mexico to Oklahoma. Chicago mob boss Larry Hoover also received a pardon from the New York tycoon. His colleague, Baltimore drug lord Garnett Gilbert Smith, smiled along with his associates upon receiving the news of the pardon. Sam Topeka, sentenced to ten years in prison for selling 80 kilograms of cocaine, was also favored. The same clemency was granted to Christopher Anthony Bryant, sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 for possession of weapons and distribution of several kilograms of cocaine, 1,300 doses of heroin, 1,700 methamphetamine pills, and 1,300 fentanyl pills.
The current U.S. president’s elective affinities with drug traffickers are nothing new. Joseph Weichselbaum was his partner in a helicopter rental company used to transport millionaires to Trump’s casino in Atlantic City. He was also one of his investors in several of his real estate ventures. In 1985, Weichselbaum was charged with 18 drug trafficking offenses. On that occasion, something astonishing happened: the case was transferred from Cincinnati to Ohio so that another judge could determine the sentence. The judge appointed was Maryanne Trump Barry, the current president’s older sister. When the prosecution denounced the defendant’s proximity to one of her associates, Maryanne recused herself but handed the case over to her close collaborator, Judge Harold Ackerman. The latter “took pity” on the drug trafficker Weichselbaum, who was sentenced to three years in prison—of which he served only 18 months—while his subordinates were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Before the verdict, Trump had written a letter to Judge Ackerman characterizing Weichselbaum as a “scrupulous, sincere, and diligent person” who was “a source of pride for the community.” In short: a businessman with drug-trafficking associates, who pardons drug traffickers and uses the pretext of narco-terrorism to bomb, carry out extrajudicial killings, and kidnap a president. Almost a tautology.

Cuba Venezuela Solidarity

Cuba and Venezuela, united in honor and struggle

Cuba and Venezuela, united in honor and struggle

The Bolivarian Government presented a posthumous Tribute of Honor to the Cubans who fell in the attack on Venezuela

Author:  | informacion@granmai.cu

Photo: Work by Michel Moro Photo: Granma

The tricolor flag at half-mast, a moment of prayer, seven artillery salvos, the certainty of eternity, because it was done with nobility… all the gratitude of the Bolivarian people.
Venezuela, and also Cuba, were moved the day before as they paid tribute to the heroes of both nations who, like an impregnable wall, “in unequal combat faced the imperialist enemy that desecrated the sovereignty of the Venezuelan homeland and protected the constitutional President, Nicolás Maduro Moros.”
The island was present at the ceremony, held at the Eclectic Monument of the Military Academy of the Bolivarian National Guard, because in the words of Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs, “honor and glory to the fallen combatants. Love and peace to the Venezuelans murdered by the imperialist horde.”
Cuba’s deepest solidarity with the brave people came in the name of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who, through X, also conveyed his heartfelt condolences and assured that “we share with the people and the Government of Venezuela the pain of seeing brothers and sisters murdered by the imperialist invader (…) We will not cease to denounce this criminal act,” he insisted.
For his part, the Foreign Minister reiterated the commitment to fight together and win, “loyal to the thinking of Bolívar and Martí, following the eternal memory of Chávez and Fidel in the year of their centenary.”
“The Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution and the Cuban Revolution, in their destinies and in their common struggle, will be examples for the liberation of the peoples of our America. We will continue our work in defense of peace, in international mobilization, in the campaign in defense of international law and the right to life and peace of the peoples, for the liberation of the constitutional President, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and our comrade Cilia Flores,” he said, after receiving, from Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a posthumous Offering of Honor to the 32 Cubans who fell in combat against U.S. forces.
“The brothers of Cuba, sons of Martí and Fidel, are also heroes of this homeland,” said Delcy Rodríguez, “because as one people they fought in defense against the illegal and illegitimate aggression” of the United States. “We are united in love; our concept of homeland is that the homeland is humanity,” she said.
The president recalled the words of Simón Bolívar: freedom is the only goal worthy of human sacrifice. She emphasized that during last Saturday’s attack, “no one surrendered; here there was combat for this homeland, for our liberators, Bolívar, Miranda, Sucre, Ribas, Urdaneta, Manuela Sáenz, Ezequiel Zamora, for Chávez and for Venezuela.” That, she said, is the greatest satisfaction.

Cuban Venezuelan Solidarity

Cubans who fell in the line of duty in Venezuela

Information from the Revolutionary Government on combatants who fell in the line of duty in Venezuela

Victims of a new criminal act of aggression and state terrorism, the combatants knew how to uphold, through their heroic actions, the spirit of solidarity of millions of compatriots

Author:  | internet@granma.cu

Photo: Internet

As a result of the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States government against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the early hours of January 3, 2026, 32 Cubans lost their lives in combat while carrying out missions on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of their counterparts in the South American country.

Faithful to their responsibilities for security and defense, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombing of the facilities.

Once their identities had been verified, the families of our fallen comrades were informed and received the heartfelt condolences and support of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, first secretary of the Party Central Committee and president of the Republic, as well as the heads of both ministries.

Victims of a new criminal act of aggression and state terrorism, the combatants knew how to raise high, with their heroic actions, the feelings of solidarity of millions of compatriots. The Revolutionary Government will organize the appropriate actions to pay them the tribute they deserve.

Cuba Venezuela Solidarity

Cuba strongly condemns the cowardly aggression of the United States against Venezuela

Cuba strongly condemns the cowardly aggression of the United States against Venezuela and expresses its absolute support for that sister nation

Statement by the Revolutionary Government

Author:  | internet@granma.cu

Photo: Jose M. Correa

The Revolutionary Government condemns in the strongest terms the military aggression of the United States against Venezuela, while categorically reiterating Cuba’s absolute support and solidarity with the sister Bolivarian Republic and its government. It supports the statement by Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and endorses her demand that the US government provide proof of life for constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores, as well as the determination of the Bolivarian and Chavista government and its people to reject the aggression and defend their independence and sovereignty.

The cowardly U.S. aggression is a criminal act that violates international law and the UN Charter. It constitutes a dangerous escalation of the war campaign waged for years by the United States against that sister nation, which has intensified since September 2025 with the aggressive naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea, under false pretexts and unfounded accusations without any evidence.

Cuba emphatically demands the immediate release by the U.S  authorities of President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife Cilia Flores.

This is a blatant imperialist and fascist aggression with objectives of domination, which seeks to revive the United States’ hegemonic ambitions over Our America, anchored in the Monroe Doctrine, and the goal of having unrestricted access to and control over the natural resources of Venezuela and the region. It also seeks to intimidate and subjugate the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The consequences of this irresponsible act remain to be seen. The U.S. government, President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, together with the aggressive elements and enemies of Latin America and the Caribbean who have acquired so much political influence in that country, bear full responsibility for the deaths and the human and material damage already caused, and which may result from the aggression.

The governments of the region, representing their peoples, unanimously signed the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace in January 2014 in Havana, an aspiration that is now under attack by the United States.

The international community cannot allow an aggression of this nature and gravity against a UN Member State to go unpunished, nor can it allow the legitimate and sitting president of a sovereign country to be kidnapped in a military operation without facing consequences. Venezuela is a peaceful country that has not attacked the United States or any other nation.

For that sister nation and its people, we are willing to give, as we did for Cuba, even our own blood.

The Revolutionary Government calls on all governments, parliaments, social movements, and peoples of the world to condemn the United States’ military aggression against Venezuela and to confront this act of state terrorism that threatens international peace and security and seeks to impose a new doctrine of domination by U.S. imperialism in the world and in Latin America and the Caribbean in particular.

All nations in the region must be alert, for the threat hangs over them all. In Cuba, our determination to fight is firm and unyielding. There is only one decision: Homeland or Death.

We shall overcome!

Havana, January 3, 2026