Former CIA Officer Gary Berntsen Reveals Reality: Mexican Cartels Are Mere ‘Errand Boys’ for a Venezuelan Criminal Superpower
Gary Berntsen, a former CIA operations officer with extensive experience in high-risk scenarios, has categorically stated that Mexican drug cartels are not the real power in the transnational organized crime threatening the United States. According to Berntsen, figures like Joaquín «El Chapo» Guzmán, despite their notoriety and billions, are mere «errand boys» or «nobodies» compared to the true architects of global drug trafficking. The supreme power, he claims, resides in Venezuela, where at least a dozen individuals connected to the Chavista regime possess more money and operational capability than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) itself. This statement is not a conspiracy theory but the testimony of a professional pointing to the «largest transnational criminal organization in the world,» a network with «hundreds of billions» of dollars that has operated in the shadows until, in Berntsen’s words, it «stole our elections in 2020.»
Berntsen’s thesis completely reconfigures the threat map. While resources and political attention have focused on the southern border and Mexican cartels, the true center of gravity of narco-power and corruption on a continental scale would be in Caracas, protected and possibly operated by figures from the high command of Nicolás Maduro’s regime. This would explain the impunity and logistical sophistication of drug trafficking operations, as well as the political infiltration and hybrid warfare being waged against the United States. It is not just about trafficking drugs; it is about using illicit profits, which Berntsen describes as colossal, to fund destabilization operations, corrupt institutions, and ultimately influence democratic processes like elections. The media silence and lack of articles on the internet about this topic, which the former agent attributes to the fact they «crush anyone who speaks,» is a terrifying indication of this network’s power of censorship and coercion.
This revelation demands an urgent and drastic reorientation of national security strategy. The fight against drug trafficking cannot be limited to intercepting shipments at the border or pursuing capos in Mexico. It must ascend to the state level, recognizing that the United States is facing a hostile narco-dictatorship that uses organized crime as an extended arm of its geopolitical power. Venezuela, under Chavismo, would have become a narco-state not only as a means of enrichment but as an instrument of asymmetric warfare against its main adversary. Berntsen’s assertion that this network «stole our elections» underscores the extreme gravity of the threat, which goes beyond substance trafficking to attack the very integrity of the republican system.
The response, as suggested by Berntsen’s tone («they want to play hard? Well, here we are»), must be proportional to the magnitude of the threat. A much more aggressive and direct foreign and intelligence policy against the Maduro regime and its operatives is required, treating this criminal network as a hostile state actor. This entails devastating economic sanctions, covert operations to dismantle its finances, and international collaboration to diplomatically isolate Venezuela. Ignoring this warning, coming from a CIA veteran, would be catastrophic negligence. The United States must stop fighting the «errand boys» and direct all its force against the true «big fish» operating from Caracas, before their corrupting and destabilizing power causes irreversible damage to sovereignty and democracy in the hemisphere.
