Hugo Carvajal

Hugo Carvajal
Carvajal in 2016.
Deputy of the National Assembly for Monagas
In office
5 January 2016 – March 2019
Consul General of Venezuela in Aruba
In office
January 2014 – April 2014
PresidentNicolás Maduro
Director of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence
In office
April 2013 – January 2014
Preceded byWilfredo Figueroa Chacín
Succeeded byIván Hernández Dala
In office
July 2004 – December 2011
Succeeded byWilfredo Figueroa Chacín
Deputy Director of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence
In office
2003–2004
Personal details
Born
Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios

(1960-04-01) 1 April 1960
Puerto la Cruz, Anzoátegui, Venezuela
Political partyUnited Socialist Party of Venezuela (former)
NicknameEl Pollo ("The Chicken")
Military service
RankGeneral
Carvajal as Major General with Hugo Chávez
From left to right: Hugo Chávez, businessman Richard Boulton, his wife Marena Bencomo, and Carvajal. Carvajal worked actively in the resolution of the kidnapping of Boulton in Colombia
Carvajal as Deputy of the National Assembly

Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, nicknamed El Pollo ("The Chicken")[1] (born 1960), is a Venezuelan diplomat and retired general. He was the head of the military intelligence in Venezuela during Hugo Chávez's government, from July 2004 to December 2011.[2] Carvajal was arrested in Spain on 12 April 2019 based on an arrest warrant from the United States for 2011 drug trafficking charges.[3][4] After the Spanish courts approved his extradition to the United States Carvajal went into hiding. On 26 March 2020, the U.S. Department of State offered $10 million for information to bring him to justice in relation to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.[5] In 2021 he was arrested in Madrid[6] and was extradited two years later to the United States.[7] In 2025, he pled guilty to all criminal charges.[8][9]

Biography

Early life

Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios was born on 1 April 1960, in Anzoátegui state.[10][2] He finished his studies at the military academy in 1981.[2]

His sister, Wilma Carvajal, was the Mayor of the Cedeño Municipality.[11]

Career

Carvajal met Hugo Chávez in 1980 at the Military Academy of Venezuela, where Chávez was his instructor.[12][2] Carvajal took part in the February 1992 Venezuelan coup attempt organised by Chávez against the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez.[13] Participants of that coup were granted a general amnesty from president Rafael Caldera in 1994.[13][14]

In September 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) accused Carvajal of helping Colombian guerrilla FARC in its drug trafficking activities by protecting them from drugs seizures, supplying weapons and providing with Venezuelan official documents.[15] He was placed on the list together with Henry Rangel Silva, Director of Venezuela's Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services, who later became Minister of Defense and Governor of Trujillo and with Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, former Minister of the Interior & Security.[15]

Carvajal was appointed head of the National Official against Organized Crime and Financing of Terrorism in October 2012. In April 2013 he was appointed as the replacement for Wilfredo Figueroa Chacín as head of the Military Counterintelligence.[2]

Arrest

Venezuela appointed Carvajal as its consul in Aruba in January 2014, however he had not been officially accepted by the Dutch government.[12][16] He was arrested in Aruba on 22 July 2014 on a U.S. arrest warrant.[17] Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro protested saying Carvajal had diplomatic immunity.[12] As a protest Venezuela closed its airspace to planes coming from Aruba and Curaçao for several hours, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. Maduro also threatened to slow down business at the Isla oil refinery on Curaçao.[18] On 28 July, he was released and flown back to Venezuela by private plane. Aruba officials declared that Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans had decided to recognize Carvajal's immunity. The Netherlands declared Carvajal persona non grata.[1] In a public appearance Maduro stated: "We had a plan to escalate tension in Latin America".[18]

One day after his release information was released that Venezuela had sent four military ships close to the shores of Aruba while Carvajal was detained.[18] The United States Department of State said that it had evidence for severe threats by Venezuela against both Aruba and the Netherlands.[18] The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had contact with Venezuela about the military ships, with Venezuela stating that they were returning from an exercise. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affair also stated that Carvajal was released after strictly judicial considerations based on international law.[18]

Carvajal is also wanted by Colombia for the torture and murder of two agents.[1]

Support for Guaidó

On 21 February 2019, during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Carvajal made a video in support of Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela and criticized Nicolás Maduro's presidency. Carvajal called for Venezuelan military forces to break ranks and to allow the shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela.[19][20]

Maduro expelled Carvajal from the Armed Forces on 4 April, degraded his Major General status, and accused him of treason.[21]

Narcoterrorism conspiracy

Carvajal was arrested in Spain by local authorities in 2019 at the behest of the U.S. government. His extradition to the United States to stand trial for drug trafficking was not carried out after a Spanish court rejected the American request.[22] The denial was appealed and then overturned in 2019 but Carvajal had disappeared by that point. In September 2021, he was arrested again by Spanish authorities after hiding out in Madrid for two years.[23] His asylum claim was denied in October 2021 and his extradition was approved to go forward. The extradition was put on hold again after Carvajal appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.[24]

Carvajal faced charges of trafficking cocaine to the U.S. in a narcoterrorism conspiracy while using weapons.[8][9][25] On 13 July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights denied his request to avoid extradition,[26] and five days later, Spain's High Court allowed for him to be immediately extradited to the United States.[27] On 19 July 2023, he was extradited from Spain, arriving in New York.[28][7] Charges against Carvajal filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York include cocaine importation and firearms-related charges.[29] When he was arraigned in the Manhattan federal court on 20 July 2023,[7][30] he pled not guilty.[30]

One week before trial, Carvajal pled guilty in June 2025 to all charges, with the possibility of sentencing of up to 50 years [9] to life in prison.[8] The delayed change in his plea, according to the BBC, "led to speculation he may have reached a deal for a lower sentence in exchange for providing incriminating information about the Maduro's government";[31] Joshua Goodman of the Associated Press reported that Carvajal's attorneys said the prosecutor announced that no plea deal was offered.[9] Journalist Antonio Maria Delgado wrote in the Miami Herald that Carvajal claims to have evidence about Venezuela's involvement with Iran and Colombia's FARC, election tampering, espionage within the U.S., and Maduro's involvement with the gang Tren de Aragua as a "paramilitary arm of the state".[8] Goodman wrote that Carvajal might have information about the voting machine company Smartmatic.[9] According to Delgado, Carvajal's "cooperation could dramatically expand the U.S. government's understanding of Venezuela’s deep state", but his claims would need to be independently verified as "Carvajal has a history of shifting loyalties and politically motivated statements".[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Timmermans laat drugsconsul Carvajal gaan" (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Hugo Carvajal fue hombre de confianza de Chávez y estuvo al frente de la DIM" [Hugo Carvajal was a trusted man of Chávez and headed the DIM]. El Nacional (in Spanish). 24 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  3. ^ Castellanos, Silvio; Miguel Gutierrez; Andy Sullivan (12 April 2019). "Ex-Venezuelan intelligence chief arrested on U.S. drug trafficking warrant". Reuters. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Ex-Venezuelan intelligence chief arrested on U.S. drug trafficking warrant". ABC News. Associated Press. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Department of State Offers Rewards for Information to Bring Venezuelan Drug Traffickers to Justice". state.gov. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Spanish police arrests ex-Venezuelan spy chief Carvajal". Reuters. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Parra, Aritz (19 July 2023). "Ex-Venezuelan spy chief Carvajal is extradited from Spain to US on drug trafficking charges". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e Delgado, Antonio Maria (25 June 2025). "Former Venezuelan spy chief pleads guilty in U.S. drug case, ties Maduro to gangs, Iran". Miami Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e Goodman, Joshua (25 June 2025). "Former Venezuela spymaster pleads guilty to narcoterrorism charge ahead of trial". Associated Press. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  10. ^ OFAC
  11. ^ "Divulgación Municipales 2013" (in Spanish). CNE. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "Venezuela protesta por detención en Aruba del general Hugo Carvajal" [Venezuela protests the arrest of General Hugo Carvajal in Aruba] (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  13. ^ a b Barráez, Sebastiana (6 February 2022). "El ocaso de los militares del 4F: a 30 años del intento de golpe que buscó derrocar a Carlos Andrés Pérez" [The twilight of the February 4th military: 30 years after the coup attempt that sought to overthrow Carlos Andrés Pérez]. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  14. ^ Olmo (@BBCgolmo), Guillermo D. (6 December 2018). "Cómo era la Venezuela en la que triunfó Chávez hace 20 años (y en qué se parece a la actual)". Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  15. ^ a b "Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Aruba detains Venezuelan general on US drug trafficking list". BBC News. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  17. ^ Kejal Vyas & Juan Forero (24 July 2014). "Retired Venezuelan General Hugo Carvajal Detained on U.S. Petition". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  18. ^ a b c d e Kieran Kaal & Edwin Timmer (29 July 2014). "Aruba ontsnapt aan Venezolaanse inval" (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  19. ^ Dube, Ryan; Vyas, Kejal (21 February 2019). "Venezuelan Official Breaks With Maduro". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  20. ^ Herrero, Ana Vanessa; Casey, Nicholas (21 February 2019). "Venezuela's Ex-Spy Chief Rejects Maduro, Accusing Leader's Inner Circle of Corruption". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  21. ^ "Maduro expulsó a 13 oficiales de la FAN por reconocer a Guaidó" [Maduro expels from the Armed Forces 13 officials that recognized Guaidó]. NTN24 (in Spanish). 4 April 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  22. ^ "Spain Rejects U.S. Request to Extradite Ex-Venezuelan Spy Chief". The New York Times. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  23. ^ "Spain Arrests Former Venezuela Spy Chief Accused of Drug Trafficking". The New York Times. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Spanish court suspends extradition of Venezuela's ex-spymaster to U.S." Reuters. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  25. ^ "Former Venezuelan Official Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios Arrested In Spain In Connection With Drug-Trafficking Charge". Department of Justice. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  26. ^ "European court denies effort by Venezuela ex-official to avoid US extradition". Reuters. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  27. ^ "Spanish court orders immediate extradition of Venezuela's ex-spymaster to U.S." 18 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  28. ^ Buschschlüter, Vanessa (19 July 2023). "Hugo Carvajal: Spain extradites Venezuela's ex-spy chief to US". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  29. ^ "Former Venezuelan Official Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios Extradited To The United States On Narco-Terrorism, Firearms, And Drug Trafficking Charges". U.S. Department of Justice. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  30. ^ a b Cohen, Luc (20 July 2023). "Venezuela's ex-spymaster pleads not guilty to US drug trafficking charges". Reuters. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  31. ^ Buschschlüter, Vanessa (26 June 2025). "Venezuela's ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terrorism charges". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
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