“Chávez’s motive was primarily political, but assuming a direct role in marketing FARC cocaine converted his government into a criminal enterprise,” the report said. “In this period, senior Chavista leaders became more interested in sustaining this lucrative corruption than in governing or managing the economy.”

People will immediately see these charges as political, and obviously they are to some degree, if the US is serious about this they should lead with facts, not charges.

For example, they indicate that Maduro received a $5M bribe from FARC while he was Foreign Minister. Irrespective of charges - this is really damning. Regular Venezuelans understand that corruption is bad, and so the focus should be on material facts and getting them out. That the US has charged them is really a technicality that allows all sorts of another measure to be taken, but from a PR perspective, it may be meaningless because it will be perceived as politicized.

Whatever campaign is going on, the public part needs to bring the most evidence forward and make it clear as day.

> Maduro’s indictment marks the second time that the U.S. government has brought criminal charges against a sitting foreign head of state. The last time was in 1989, when federal prosecutors in Miami indicted Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on drug-trafficking charges. and U.S. military forces seized him late that year. Noriega was convicted at trial, imprisoned in the Miami area and died in 2017.

I wonder if we'll see this part of history replay itself in 2020/2021.

Good, hopefully this criminal is removed from office.... the sooner the better....