Letter from former Chavista army chief Clíver Alcalá to Trump: reveals that the Rodríguez siblings lead the Cartel of the Sun and that Maduro exported the Tren de Aragua to the United States
Retired Major General Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, a former Chavista commander convicted in the United States for drug trafficking and collaboration with the FARC, has sent an incendiary letter to President Donald Trump.
Dated December 8, 2025, the document uncovers a transnational criminal network where siblings Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez emerge as the true puppet masters of power in Venezuela, not Maduro nor Diosdado Cabello.
Alcalá, who served 34 years in the Bolivarian Armed Forces and voluntarily surrendered to US authorities in 2020, describes Chavismo as a «criminal apparatus» that directly threatens the national security of the US through drug trafficking, electoral frauds, and terrorist alliances.
Alcalá, who is serving a 21-year prison sentence for supplying weapons to the FARC under orders from Hugo Chávez—a «huge mistake» he regrets for life—offers to testify before US authorities.
His missive, delivered through his legal team, paints a panorama of systemic corruption that dates back to the Chávez era and consolidates under Maduro.
Previously, we had reported it in Gateway Hispanic about the Cartel of the Suns as the axis of Chavista narcoterrorism, with links to illegal mining and transnational gangs.
The core of the complaint points to the Cartel of the Suns, recently designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.
Alcalá affirms that this structure, integrated by high-ranking military and civilian officials, is not led by Maduro, but by Delcy Rodríguez—vice president and key figure in economic policy—and Jorge Rodríguez—president of the National Assembly and electoral operator—.
«With a deliberately low and calculated public profile, they are the true Machiavellian masterminds behind the leaders of the cartel corporation known as the Cartel of the Suns,» he writes. They, he maintains, control Maduro and Cabello, ensuring the regime’s survival through money laundering via drug trafficking and illegal mining.
SECOND Venezuelan Whistleblower Letter to President Trump EXPOSES Smartmatic, Drug Cartels & Deep State Collusion
A second letter from a former Venezuelan general in U.S. custody, Major General Clíver Alcalá Cordones, has been sent directly to @POTUS and it’s a bombshell.… pic.twitter.com/AIQ5Bnfj1i
— LindellTV (@RealLindellTV) December 9, 2025
The cartel operates as a «diffuse network» within the Venezuelan Army, involved in smuggling gasoline, gold, and cocaine, with direct shipments to the US.A chilling chapter details the origin of the Tren de Aragua, the megagang that Washington also labeled as terrorist in February 2025.
Alcalá recounts that in 2011, as commander in Aragua, he led the military takeover of the Tocorón prison—the gang’s headquarters—despite pressures from the Chavista government to abort it. The operation left 16 criminals dead, but revealed direct links between inmates and the regime.
«The then Minister of Sports, Antonio Enrique ‘Potro’ Álvarez, was sent by Chávez to coordinate with criminal leaders,» he affirms.
Under Maduro, these structures strengthened: prisons as weapons depots, control of electoral votes, and transnational expansion. Alcalá accuses Maduro of «exporting» the Tren de Aragua to neighboring countries and the US, using Venezuelan immigrants as cover.
The gang, born in Tocorón in 2014, expanded with the migratory crisis, committing murders such as that of Ronald Ojeda in Chile in 2024.
Electoral fraud emerges as another pillar of Chavista control.Alcalá denounces that «the majority of elections in Venezuela have been manipulated» through parallel Smartmatic systems, altering results in areas without opposition observers.
He points to General Carlos Quintero—vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE)—as the «engineer» of this technology, also used in the US and other countries. The Rodríguez siblings, he adds, supervised everything.
This coincides with historical complaints: in 2017, Smartmatic accused the regime of inflating participation in constituent elections, and in 2024, Ex-Clé—an Argentine firm linked to Jorge Rodríguez—controlled electoral biometrics, facilitating the mega-fraud of July 28.
In foreign policy, Alcalá exposes Maduro’s ties with Iran and Hezbollah, forged from his role as Chávez’s foreign minister (2006-2013). «Maduro directly managed contacts with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah, and Cuban intelligence,» he writes, deepening a strategic alliance to evade sanctions.
The Atlantic Council documents how Venezuela serves as a platform for Iranian networks in Hispanic America, with false passports and financing via drug trafficking.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, has described Venezuela as the «anchor» of Iran and Hezbollah in the region, facilitating laundering and espionage.
Finally, Alcalá alludes to illegal mining in the Orinoco Mining Arc, where Maduro’s son, Nicolás «Nicolasito» Maduro Guerra, allegedly supervises extractions of gold and diamonds to launder cartel profits.
This, he affirms, is a «serious threat» to the US, by financing operations that flood the market with dirty metals and empower gangs. The Treasury Department has sanctioned Chavista figures for this, linking it to the flow of cocaine toward North America.
This letter, which follows that of Hugo «Pollo» Carvajal—former Chavista intelligence chief—accelerates the internal collapse of the regime. Alcalá, a repentant insider, underscores that his cooperation seeks redemption and justice.
For the US, it is ammunition for operations like Southern Spear, which deploys ships in the Caribbean against narcoterrorism.
Chavismo is not a government, but a cartel that exports chaos, drugs, and insecurity. The freedom of Venezuela and hemispheric security depend on dismantling it.
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