Maduro's regime arrests an opponent for expressing himself in favor of Trump's anti-narcotics fight

The regime of Nicolás Maduro returned to boasting about its political repression in a public way. In a program broadcast by the regime's state channel VTV, the chavista Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello - indicted for drug trafficking in the United States - confirmed the arrest of a citizen on Margarita Island, Venezuela, for having written on social media the phrase "Welcome the gringo ships," in reference to the U.S. naval deployment in the Caribbean, ordered by President Donald Trump as part of his counter-narcotics offensive against narcoterrorism, which includes the Venezuelan regime.

"Today we caught one in Margarita, he wrote 'welcome to the gringo ships,'" Cabello announced with his characteristic mocking tone. Chavismo's number two, on whom a $25,000,000 reward is pending, added that the arrest is part of what he called the "new version of the Christmas Tun Tun," alluding to the repressive practice with which Chavismo kidnaps opponents door-to-door.

During the announcement, the high-ranking Chavista leader repeated with irony his threat to Venezuelan dissidents.

"To repeat what I have always said to my dear brothers in the opposition, that I love them very much, but they have called for invasion, they have called for foreign intervention. Today we grabbed one from Margarita, he wrote 'welcome the gringo ships'. (...) I am premiering the new version of the Christmas Tun Tun."

Then, Cabello suggested that another Venezuelan citizen was detained for warning the opposition that he was being watched by another user on the internet: "And there came one who wrote: 'this rat is zapping you, little brother'. Well, the two of them are together now."

Diosdado Cabello, an accused narco-terrorist with a million-dollar reward

Cabello, one of Chavismo's most influential and feared figures, faces federal charges in the Southern District of New York for conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and firearms offenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the indictment, Cabello participated in a narcoterrorism conspiracy between the Cartel de los Soles - a criminal drug trafficking organization made up of Venezuelan generals - and the Colombian FARC, both of which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

In January 2025, the Department of State raised the reward for information leading to Cabello's arrest or conviction to $25,000,000. His boss, Nicolás Maduro, maintains a $50 million reward for similar crimes.

Washington does not recognize dictator Maduro as the legitimate president nor Cabello, part of his cabinet, as Minister of the Interior, a position he assumed after the fraudulent presidential election of July 2024, unknown to a large part of the international community.

Military deployment and fight against drug trafficking

Cabello's statements come in the midst of the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, where the Armed Forces deployed warships, nuclear submarines, air and sea transport ships, fighters and thousands of troops distributed in ships and military bases in Puerto Rico.

So far, the Pentagon confirmed the sinking of up to four vessels in the Caribbean, three of them directly linked to Venezuelan drug trafficking, including networks connected to the Tren de Aragua and the Cártel de los Soles, responsible, in part, for cocaine routes to the US and the world.

The arrest on Margarita Island adds to the wave of political persecution in Venezuela, in which more than 1,200 Venezuelans have been arbitrarily detained since the July 28, 2024, elections, according to Foro Penal, as part of the "Operation Tun Tun."