Tackling the Soles Cartel and the Venezuelan dictatorship is not just another foreign affair for the United States. Ralph Pezzullo—author of Stolen Elections: The Plot to Destroy Democracy—and whistleblower and former CIA officer Gary Berntsen contend the United States is facing a hybrid war against an exceptionally dangerous actor.
They warn: “The Soles Cartel has been underestimated for too long. Most people do not realize the money involved. Moving an estimated $2–3 trillion annually, the cartel controls drug trafficking south of the US border—from crops in Bolivia and Colombia to distribution through Mexican cartels.”
Pezzullo and Berntsen describe the Soles Cartel as the world’s largest transnational criminal organization, with a solid strategic and financial structure from Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, and Iran. Through infiltration of NGOs and political entities—including within the US State Department and intelligence community—the Soles Cartel has manipulated elections in favor of the left.
Steven Hecht
Steve Hecht is a businessman, writer, and film producer. Born and raised in New York, he has lived and worked in Guatemala since 1972. He holds a BA in economics and an MBA in banking and finance, both from Columbia University.
