As tensions between the US and Venezuela have escalated, Albania has suddenly come up. Independent journalist Arturo Dominguez, in an article in \u201cThe Antagonist Magazine\u201d, focused on the Albanian mafia and its role in Venezuela or Ecuador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a visit to Ecuador, designated two local gangs as terrorist organizations and promised $20 million in security assistance, including drones for the Ecuadorian navy. In return, the US has indicated its willingness to reopen a military base in the country if invited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this development was followed by strong accusations from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who said that Ecuador and the Albanian mafia were behind a failed terrorist plot in Venezuela, involving 38 captured mercenaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Albanian mafia that governs Ecuador sent its mercenaries to plant bombs in Venezuela. We caught them and confiscated three of their phones,\u201d Maduro said on state television in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Arturo Dominguez\u2019s report, this is not just a propaganda episode. The Albanian mafia has been repeatedly mentioned by regional leaders as a powerful player in the drug trade and mercenary operations. Her mention in such a context puts Albania in the international spotlight for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ecuador is considered the main gateway for cocaine into Latin America, and its ties to traffickers and foreign groups, including Albanian networks, raise questions about the influence these organizations have in domestic politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominguez points out that while the US ignores corruption and cartel ties in Ecuador, it continues to hit Venezuela with drug trafficking accusations and intervention plans. This double standard, he says, is linked to the US\u2019s vast economic and strategic interests in Venezuela\u2019s natural resources, from oil to lithium to freshwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The article<\/strong> in \u201cThe Antagonist Magazine\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite US intelligence agencies reporting that Maduro does not have control of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) criminal group, as the White House suggests, and leaving aside the fact that Maduro has led several campaigns against the TdA using tactics similar to El Salvador\u2019s President Nayib Bukele, the US government continues to promote disinformation that simply disputes every accusation made against Venezuela for more than two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Maduro is accused in the US of drug trafficking, all the lies and war rhetoric about invading Venezuela and claiming he has ties to the cartels speaks volumes. The United States, by being on the wrong side of these accusations and supporting several coup attempts, contesting elections through US-funded organizations, and financing several failed terrorist attacks, is not helping their cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more the government spreads lies about Venezuela, the more it exposes the propaganda that has always been part of every discussion about this Latin American country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where Ecuador comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently visited Ecuador to finalize several diplomatic agreements. During the visit, he designated two Ecuadorian gangs as terrorist organizations and gave Ecuador 20 million dollars for security, partly to buy drones for the Ecuadorian Navy. The funding is intended to help fight cartels. In return, the reopening of a U.S. military base in the country is being discussed, \u201cif invited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn fact, we have had a military base in the past. We were asked to leave, and during the Correa administration, we left,\u201d Rubio said during a joint press conference with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld. \u201cIf they invite us to come back, that is a strategic issue. We will study it, we will see if it makes sense, if it helps us. And if we can help with illegal mining, narcoterrorism and illegal fishing, which are extremely serious, we are willing to look into it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, high-ranking Ecuadorian government officials and their businesses have been linked to the drug trade, highlighting numerous conflicts of interest. It should also be noted that Ecuador is often cited as a gateway for the drug trade in Latin America, because it borders the two largest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working with a government that turns a blind eye to cartels and the Albanian mafia is hypocrisy, and this hypocrisy, which Latin leaders like Maduro have cited, should come as no surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after Eric Prince visited Ecuador this year to provide security training to the police and military of President Daniel Noboa, 38 people were arrested in Venezuela on suspicion of a terrorist plot. Maduro claimed on state television that a bombing attempt (which was thwarted by a citizen) was linked to Ecuador and the Albanian mafia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maduro declared: \u201cIf Eric Prince is there, then the American empire is there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, 38 new mercenaries have been arrested. The Albanian mafia that rules Ecuador sent some of its trained mercenaries to plant bombs in Venezuela. We caught them. Three of their phones have been confiscated,\u201d Maduro said in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How the US will deal with its own frauds is underlined by the government\u2019s indifference to the attack on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel that killed 11 people. When Rubio was asked about the duplicity in working with the Ecuadorian government, which has arguably done less than Maduro in Venezuela and Petro in Colombia to combat drug trafficking than it has with Venezuela, he did not take the question well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now the question arises: why is the US willing to help Ecuador fight the cartels, but not a country like Venezuela? While justifying an invasion of a country that is not linked by the DEA to human trafficking operations, the US is supporting a country with a serious smuggling problem, empowered by the president\u2019s monopoly on bananas and the shipping industry, where drugs are often found in its cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noboa has failed to address corruption in his government and his businesses, thus fueling the drug trade, while the US has chosen to support him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many say it\u2019s oil, and that\u2019s largely true. But there are also gold, lithium, and other resources, including clean water, that the U.S. is targeting. War criminals like Erik Prince don\u2019t call Ecuador \u201cEl Dorado,\u201d and U.S. officials don\u2019t describe it as \u201cour backyard\u201d for nothing. U.S. companies stand to gain trillions of dollars if the U.S. invades Venezuela, overthrows its government, and installs a pro-American regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it prepares to prop up a right-wing, corrupt government in Latin America, as it has historically done, the U.S. has deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico for \u201ccounter-narcotics operations.\u201d Why these planes are needed for drug-trafficking ships makes no sense. One could easily conclude that they are there to support an invasion of Venezuela, as this government’s Latinophobic rhetoric continues to grow and become more overt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As tensions between the US and Venezuela have escalated, Albania has suddenly come up. 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