USA: Judge does not drop charges against former Venezuelan general

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss criminal charges against a retired Venezuelan army general accused, along with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, of “flooding” the United States with cocaine.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein said during a hearing in the case against Cliver Alcala that the US authorities can bring criminal charges against any foreign official who violates US law even when his alleged conduct was carried out during the official exercise of his work.

“Immunity for sovereignty does not protect a rogue state or dishonest officials,” the judge said in federal court in Manhattan. “We are not dealing with ordinary criminal activity here. We are dealing with ordinary criminal conduct at the highest levels of government.”

Alcalá's lawyers, who appeared before Hellerstein in a beige prisoner's uniform, sought to dismiss narco-terrorism charges filed against their client two years ago. Alcalá has pleaded not guilty to charges that he worked with the socialist president to send cocaine to the United States.

According to allegations by the prosecutor's office in the southern district of New York, the former general and Maduro were part of a group of military officers and high-ranking officials from Venezuela who worked with Colombian rebels to allegedly send 250 metric tons of cocaine a year to the United States.

Alcalá not only denies the accusations but also claims that he is Maduro's enemy. The former general openly criticized Maduro almost since he assumed the presidency of Venezuela in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chávez.