To Defeat Maduro’s Regime, Treat It Like a Crime Syndicate | Americas Quarterly

To Defeat Maduro’s Regime, Treat It Like a Crime Syndicate | Americas Quarterly



...Venezuela is almost a failed state where millions of people face nationwide power outages, food shortages, hyperinflation, and where crime and looting have become a means of survival. The most powerful criminal organization in this apocalyptic reality is the regime of Nicolás Maduro and the syndicate of criminal families that make up his government.

Venezuela’s chavista government was once a legitimate political actor but it has devolved into a type of cartel of criminal cells that protect each other and run the nation through corruption and fear.

...The main goal of this crime syndicate is to cling to power because leading normal lives in the legitimate world once again is no longer an option. To defeat this regime the international community must move beyond the diplomacy and sanctions used to deal with traditional political actors, and instead adopt techniques the police use to fight the mob.

...The first step is to acknowledge that the regime not only partners with drug cartels but also with guerrilla groups deemed terrorist organizations.

...A following step would be to use intelligence and surveillance to understand the criminal enterprises of chavismo and to identify its weaknesses. Police forces usually map out the command chain of crime syndicates and seek to pinpoint who is an enemy of whom, so they can work to deepen rifts within the criminal organization.

..But when infiltration is too risky, paying informants to confess and to turn on the top capo is another tried and true police strategy....in exchange for being allowed to keep their ill-gotten gains, or for assurances they won’t be prosecuted in the future.

Cutting off the money flow of both legal and illegal cash that helps the regime survive is paramount. ... finding ways to track and seize shipments of illegally mined gold.

... the U.S. government has in the past indicted a sitting head of state, Manuel Noriega, in 1988 for drug running, money laundering and racketeering - charges that would easily stick to Maduro and scores of his allies. ...International laws protect heads of state and government officers from being arrested, but then most of the international community does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate president anyway. The willingness to arrest Maduro would limit his ability to travel.