Monitoring press freedom and international affairs from Mid-Missouri Public Radio and the Missouri School of Journalism

Venezuela's other crisis: drug trafficking

4 May 2017
Venezuelan navy police officers carry packages of seized cocaine to be shown to at a press conference in Punto Fijo, Venezuela in 2009. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela may be mired in political and economic crisis. But governance in the country is also undermined by the involvement of senior government officials in the drug trade.

Among those sanctioned or facing criminal charges in the U.S. are the country's vice president, interior minister and top military officials loyal to President Nicolás Maduro.

By one estimate, as much as 40 percent of the world's cocaine passes through the country. On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at the drug trade in Venezuela and how the involvement of government officials is shaping the country's politics.

Joining the program:

  • Deborah Bonello, a senior investigative researcher for Insight Crime.
  • Douglas Farah, a senior fellow at the National Defense University and president of the national security consulting firm IBI.
  • Ralph Espach, director of Latin America Strategic Affairs at the Center for Naval Analyses.
  • Noel Maurer, a professor of international affairs and international business at George Washington University.

Monitoring press freedom and international affairs from Mid-Missouri Public Radio and the Missouri School of Journalism.
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