The media The Dallas Express has exclusively obtained a second letter addressed to former US President Donald Trump, sent by retired major general Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones. The former high commander of the Venezuelan Armed Forces assures in the letter that he decided to request his retirement when Nicolás Maduro assumed power, since it was very clear to him that a leader of a criminal gang was taking control of the country.
Alcalá Cordones, who served for more than three decades in the Venezuelan military force, has been detained in the United States since 2020 after surrendering to authorities in Colombia. Pleaded guilty to providing material support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in connection with arms trafficking.
The letter, dated December 8, 2025, details what the retired military officer describes as a transnational criminal structure directed from the Venezuelan government apparatus. In it he exposes, in a more extensive way, the criminal, political and foreign policy networks that, according to him, support Nicolás Maduro’s control over the nation.
The Dallas Express has highlighted that Alcalá’s serious accusations come days after another former high-ranking official, Hugo Carvajal, will send a separate warning to Trump. Both retired soldiers, now imprisoned in the United States, describe Venezuela as a criminal enterprise that directly threatens American national security.
The Rodríguez brothers: the true controllers of the regime
The central allegation of the letter, obtained by The Dallas Expresspoints directly to the brothers Jorge and Delcy Rodríguez as the true “brains” of the regime in power. Alcalá assures that these two officials are the most important figures in the criminal network known publicly as the Poster of the Suns.
The retired major general describes them as the “true Machiavellian architects” behind this criminal corporation, because they maintain a deliberately low and calculated public profile. The letter states that the survival of the regime in power is largely due to the management of these two individuals, who are Maduro’s current controllers.
Delcy Rodríguez is the current executive vice president and Jorge Rodríguez presides over the National Assembly, positions from which, according to Alcalá, they supervise the networks that maintain control. The exclusive information of The Dallas Express emphasizes that these brothers effectively control Nicolás Maduro and Diosdado Cabello.
Aragua Train: export of a transnational threat
Alcalá dedicates a significant section of his letter to the expansion of the criminal gang the Aragua Trainlinking its genesis with the link between the cartel and politics. He remembers that in 2011 he supervised the military takeover of the Tocorón prison, where the first leaders of the group that would later be known as the Aragua Train operated.
The text indicates that former minister Antonio “Potro” Álvarez was sent by then-president Hugo Chávez to coordinate directly with the imprisoned criminal leaders. Alcalá maintains that he faced political pressure from officials seeking to protect these ringleaders in prison facilities.
After Maduro came to power in 2013, prison-based criminal structures were strengthened under his control, with prisons acting as weapons depots and operations centers. The key complaint, highlighted by The Dallas Expressis that the government of Nicolas Maduro used and expanded this criminal organization, exporting its operatives to other countries, including the United States.
Allegations of electoral fraud and Smartmatic
Another crucial point in the letter is the allegations of electoral manipulation by the Maduro regime. Alcalá accuses Army General Carlos Quintero, a military intelligence officer and current vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), of directing the electoral fraud.
The retired major general describes Quintero as the “engineer” of Venezuela’s Smartmatic electoral technology used to carry out the frauds. It alleges that parallel voting systems linked to Smartmatic were used to alter the results, especially in areas where there were no opposition observers.
Alcalá reiterates that, although the letter does not allege specific interference in US elections, it states that the technology “can be manipulated” and was used to commit fraud in Venezuela. The supervision of this entire manipulation system, according to the information revealed by The Dallas Expressfell to the brothers Jorge and Delcy Rodríguez.
Drug trafficking, Iran and influence operations
In terms of foreign policy, Alcalá Cordones’ letter states that Maduro deepened cooperation with Iran as a strategic partner. Specifically, the Maduro regime managed and maintained the most sensitive relationships, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and Hezbollah.
Alcalá also alleges that senior Venezuelan officials privately boasted of alleged influence over certain U.S. lawmakers, information he learned in 2007. However, the letter The Dallas Express obtained does not identify specific people who were under that alleged influence.
Finally, the retired major general addresses drug trafficking and illegal mining in the Orinoco Mining Arc as linked criminal activities, which functioned as sources of income for the regime. Gold and diamonds were used as key commodities for the drug trafficking money laundering mechanism, supervised by the Cartel of the Suns.
Clíver Alcalá concludes the letter by reiterating his willingness to testify before the United States authorities about these and other matters, including intelligence operations and the role of Maduro’s son in the control of illegal mining. The cooperation of the retired officer, according to The Dallas Expresscould influence US policy toward the Cartel of the Suns and transnational criminal organizations.
