So let’s play a little game called 🤷♂️ “Who Do You Trust?” 🤷♂️
On one side: Jhon Jairo Velásquez, a.k.a. Popeye—Pablo Escobar’s favorite hitman. A career criminal, sure, but by the time he was out, the guy had nothing to lose. He jumped on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube—basically any place with a camera—and screamed the same thing over and over:
👉 “Nicolás Maduro and Diosdado Cabello are the real bosses of the Cartel de los Soles.”
Not once. Not twice. For YEARS. Until he died in 2020.
And then—because the universe has a twisted sense of humor—just months later, in March 2020, the U.S. Justice Department rolls out indictments on Maduro & friends for… wait for it… narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. Oh, what a shocker! Popeye was telling the truth? Who could’ve guessed—the hitman nailed it, the politicians didn’t.
Now, the where: From Colombia’s underworld to every social media platform, Popeye broadcast his accusations. The DOJ, Congress, and the State Department later backed it with their own “official” reports and indictments.
The why: Because, according to Popeye (and U.S. prosecutors), Venezuela isn’t run by a government—it’s run by a cartel that just happens to fly a national flag. Think less “United Nations” and more “Netflix Narcos spin-off.”
But here’s the punchline: Some U.S. politicians still call all this “political targeting” and say there’s “no legal basis.”
Yeah, because obviously Popeye—the guy who buried more people than a cemetery—would just randomly lie about Maduro… for fun.
So who do you believe?
The cartel hitman who called it like it is?
Or the politicians telling us Maduro is just a misunderstood socialist Santa Claus handing out free presents instead of kilos of cocaine?
Right. And Escobar was just Colombia’s favorite entrepreneur. 🤷♂️ 🤷♂️ 🤷♂️ 🤷♂️