Cliver Alcala Cordones

Profile

Cliver Antonio Alcala Cordones (b. 1961) is a retired Venezuelan Army major general. During Hugo Chavez's government he commanded the Fifth Infantry Division in Maracay and the Southern Strategic Forces, posts U.S. prosecutors view as central to the alleged articulation between the Venezuelan state and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After breaking with Maduro in 2019, he relocated to Barranquilla (Colombia) and in 2020 turned himself in for extradition to the United States.[doj-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing][reuters-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing]

Indictment and guilty plea

The March 2020 federal indictment named him as a co-conspirator in an organization within the Cartel de los Soles. According to the case file, from around 2006 Alcala facilitated cocaine trafficking and the movement of FARC cadres on Venezuelan soil, and delivered weaponry to the organization, including two grenade launchers and twenty grenades.[doj-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing]

In June 2023 Alcala Cordones pleaded guilty to two counts: (1) providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (the FARC), and (2) illicit transfer of firearms. As part of the agreement, narco-terrorism charges were dropped.[reuters-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing]

Sentencing

On 8 April 2024, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein sentenced him in the Southern District of New York to 260 months in prison (21 years and 6 months), followed by 3 years of supervised release. Prosecutors had sought 30 years; the defense argued for 6 years, contending that his actions had been carried out under orders from then-president Hugo Chavez.[doj-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing][reuters-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing]

Operation Gideon

Alcala was also one of the planners of the failed Operation Gideon of May 2020, a maritime incursion intended to capture Maduro and trigger regime change. The operation ended with several participants killed and others, including the former U.S. Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry, captured.

Reference status

Alcala Cordones's conviction is the first final sentence within the 2020 DOJ package against the so-called Cartel de los Soles. He is currently serving his sentence in the U.S. federal system.[doj-2024-04-08-alcala-sentencing]