From US jail, Venezuelan general who defied Maduro awaits potentially lengthy sentence

CARMEL, N.Y. (AP) — With his strong military bearing, purposeful stride and firm handshake, Cliver Alcalá still looks every bit the retired three-star Venezuelan army general, even though the only uniform he wears now are drab jailhouse khakis.

A formidable opponent of socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who twice tried to mount coups against him, Alcalá is in an upstate New York correctional facility awaiting sentencing on Thursday on unrelated federal charges of providing weapons to drug-funded rebels that could put him away for three decades.

“My only regret is that my love of Venezuela has inflicted so much pain on my family,” the 62-year-old Alcalá told The Associated Press in his first interview behind bars. “I take full responsibility for my actions but they are the ones paying the consequences.”

The interview took place earlier this month, right before two days of shocking testimony in court that had nothing to do with the crimes to which Alcalá had pleaded guilty.

In the new testimony, convicted drug traffickers alleged they witnessed Alcalá, two decades ago, leveraging his position as one of Venezuela’s powerful military officers to provide safe passage for ton-sized shipments of cocaine at dirt airstrips, border checkpoints and a major airport.

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