Skip to main content

Washington’s favorite Venezuelan opposition leader exposes links with Colombian paramilitary and narco networks

While the US and its allies glorify Leopoldo López as a new MLK, the US-backed Venezuelan opposition  collaborates with Colombia’s narco-affiliated, death squad-sponsoring former President Álvaro Uribe.
 
by Ben Norton
 
Part 4 - Leopoldo López flies with drug trafficking-linked plane company
 
The various coup attempts planned by Leopold López, Juan Guaidó, and their sponsors in Washington and Bogotá had repeatedly failed. So this December, López adopted a new PR strategy.

On December 11, he flew from his new home in Spain (where he also has the support of the government) to Cúcuta, a Colombian city on the border with Venezuela. There López posed for photos with Venezuelan immigrants, in a marketing exercise designed to portray himself as a noble, bleeding-heart defender of his people.

But Venezuelan journalists soon uncovered a scandal: The plane that ferried López to Cúcuta was owned by a Florida-based company that had previously sold a plane to a Colombian who was busted in Honduras for transporting 500 kilograms of cocaine.

The Venezuelan investigative journalism publication La Tabla analyzed photos of López with the aircraft to uncover its links to Colombian drug trafficking.

López flew on a small AC90 plane with the tail number N690SE. The aircraft’s flight log can be publicly accessed using a tracking website. With these resources, as well as photos of the plane on Instagram, La Tabla found that it was owned by Skyline Enterprises Corp.

This company is registered with the United States government and based in Florida in the city of Miramar, a suburb of Miami.

Skyline Enterprises has been in the spotlight before for indirect links to drug trafficking.

In 2018, the Miami New Times published an article titled “Drug Traffickers Are Buying Up Planes in South Florida.” The investigation revealed that the company had sold a plane in 2009 to a Colombian customer. Then in 2010, that plane was found in Honduras with 500 kilograms of cocaine.

The director of Skyline, Gilbert Gonzalez, denied knowledge of the drug links, telling the newspaper, “We check as much as we can the background of the people or the companies,” but once it is sold, “you could turn around and give it to your cousin… It’s kind of hard to track.

When the cocaine-filled plane was intercepted by Honduran authorities in a remote region of the country in 2010, the pilots landed and opened fire at security forces, according to a local media report.

One of the co-pilots, a Honduran national, was killed. The other co-pilot, a Colombian national, was arrested. The plane had a valid Colombian license when it was seized with the 500 kilos of cocaine.

La Tabla discovered that the same aircraft caught trafficking cocaine in Honduras was later found in 2020 in Colombia. The plane crashed north of the capital Bogotá.

It is unclear how the aircraft ended up back in the hands of its Colombian owner. Honduran authorities denied that it was the same plane, but La Tabla conclusively confirmed that it was indeed the aircraft.

The right-wing government in Honduras, which was installed in a US-backed coup d’etat, is notoriously corrupt and closely linked to drug trafficking.

According to public records, the plane was registered with a man named Henry Moreno Cortázar.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trump helps BlackRock buy Panama Canal ports, to weaken China & strengthen Wall Street

Geopolitical Economy Report   BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is buying the ports on both sides of the Panama Canal, after Donald Trump threatened the Latin American country and forced it to pressure a Hong Kong company to sell its stake. Ben Norton discusses how the US government is trying to weaken China -- and strengthen Wall Street oligarchs. 

Trump’s Trap: Macron & Ursula Push Europe Into WAR With Russia

Danny Haiphong   Brian Berletic reacts to Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen's shocking declaration of war on Russia, explaining the huge consequences it will have for Europe. Why are they taking responsibility for Ukraine? The answer may surprise you and Brian reveals the truth behind the spin in this must-watch video. 

Το καθεστώς του χάους

globinfo freexchange   Αμέσως μετά τις εθνικές εκλογές του 2019 είχαμε γράψει ότι ¨ ... απ'ότι φαίνεται τελικά, ο "σοφός λαός" δεν είναι και τόσο σοφός. Είτε με την ψήφο του, είτε με την αποχή του, έδωσε το ελεύθερο στη χειρότερη δεξιά της μεταπολίτευσης να σαρώσει σαν 'οδοστρωτήρας' τα πάντα στο πέρασμά της. Μετά από τέσσερα χρόνια νεοφιλελεύθερης λαίλαπας, το τοπίο καταστροφής θα έχει κάνει τη χώρα κυριολεκτικά αγνώριστη. ¨   Στο μόνο που πέσαμε έξω ήταν η χρονική διάρκεια της Μητσοτακικής λαίλαπας, που κράτησε παραπάνω και συνεχίζει ακάθεκτη να ισοπεδώνει τη χώρα, μάλλον λόγω της απρόβλεπτης πανδημίας, που ήρθε ως μάννα εξ'ουρανού για το καθεστώς Μητσοτάκη.  Αυτό όμως που δεν μπορούσαμε με τίποτα να φανταστούμε, είναι ότι μετά από την παταγώδη αποτυχία της διακυβέρνησης Μητσοτάκη σε όλους τους τομείς, μετά από αυτή την πρωτοφανή στα χρονικά του τόπου και αδιανόητη απόπειρα συγκάλυψης του εγκλήματος των Τεμπών και την γενικότερη, πρωτοφανή υποβάθμιση τ...

Netanyahu commits 'a bloodbath in Gaza' to save himself

Middle East Eye   At least 400 people have been killed after a surprise Israeli attack on Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday. Israel’s government vows to continue escalating these military attacks, saying it’s in response to Hamas’ refusal to extend the ceasefire, which has been in place since January. But is this the real reason for this morning’s attack? Or is there a much more cynical explanation - one tied to the political fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?   The Big Picture Podcast speaks to Daniel Levy, the president of the US/Middle East Project and a former Israeli peace negotiator. 

Winner of Romanian Presidential Election ARRESTED!

The Jimmy Dore Show  

Israel Has Always ‘Depended on Genocide’ to Colonize Palestine

BreakThrough News   Rania Khalek and Eugene Puryear discuss Israel’s resumption of its genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza, launched just a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to face his corruption trial. Israel, backed by a green light from Trump, intensified the bombing of Gaza, began a ground invasion, and killed over 500 Palestinians within 48 hours while enforcing a total blockade of Gaza. Eugene states that Israel never wanted to go through with the ceasefire because “the Israeli project can’t succeed unless it totally ethnically cleanses the territories it claims– and kills anyone in the way.” Recognizing that they may “not get the chance again,” they are putting their foot on the accelerator.” 

Trump’s ISRAEL FIRST Flip-Flop On Attacking Yemen!

The Jimmy Dore Show   President Trump has taken decisive military action in Yemen, ordering airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels on March 15, 2025. This action represents a significant flip-flop from when, as a presidential candidate, Trump railed against the Biden administration for bombing the Houthis instead of talking to them. Jimmy Dore discusses the strikes, the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office and which came after a period of relative quiet in the region. 

Trump Bombs Yemen, Pushes US Closer to War with Iran

Glenn Greenwald  

This speech accidentally exposed the truth about the US

Geopolitical Economy Report   US Vice President JD Vance gave a speech about globalization that inadvertently revealed the truth about the US empire, the goal behind the new cold war on China, the economics of imperialism, and how the Trump administration is serving billionaire Big Tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley at the expense of the working class. Ben Norton explains. 

Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics

by Alan Macleod  Part 1 A far-right, pro-Israel group with a history of support for terror and genocide is working closely with the Trump administration, preparing dossiers on thousands of pro-Palestine figures it wants deported from the United States. Betar U.S. is known to have had several meetings with senior government officials and has claimed credit for the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the nationwide anti-genocide student demonstrations that began at Columbia University last year. Ross Glick, the group’s executive director until last month, noted that he met with a diverse set of influential lawmakers, including Democratic senator John Fetterman and aides to the Republican senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford, and that all supported Betar U.S.’ campaign to rid the country of thousands of “terror supporters.” Shortly after Glick’s trip to Washington, D.C., Trump signed an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” that promises ...