The following is an English translation of El Nacional's interview with AEI fellow Roger Noriega, who told the Venezuelan newpaper that its government is deeply involved in the drug trade but he has "never heard of a witness who is in a better position to bear witness to the criminal activities of dozens of officials in the highest levels of that government."

When an imperious bully like Fidel Castro starts to fear, his instinct is to try to sow fear among his enemies. Today, with his student and benefactor, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, dying of cancer, what the Cuban dictator fears most is that his bankrupt regime in Havana is about to lose billions in critical aid and oil.

Last month, the Drug Enforcement Administration abruptly revoked the narcotics license held by the distributor Cardinal Health, preventing that firm from shipping prescription pain drugs to thousands of Florida pharmacies and hospitals. It's the latest tactic in the DEA's struggle to stem the illicit use of prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin.

Venezuela's impeached supreme court justice, Judge Eladio Aponte-Aponte describes a judicial system that is systematically corrupted by Chávista cronies and military leaders who have made billions of dollars trafficking in cocaine and laundering the proceeds of an international criminal syndicate.

The Justice Department’s recent announcement that an Iranian agent attempted to recruit a Mexican drug gang to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States presents an opportunity for the Obama administration finally to draw the line on Iran’s growing presence in the Western Hemisphere.

The most disturbing aspect of the plot to kill Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States is that Iran's thugs are developing a strategic partnership with Mexico's most violent thugs: Los Zetas.

Failing to distinguish between licensed online pharmacies (Canadian or otherwise), which require a valid prescription and sell safe medications, and rogue online pharmacies, which sell lethal fake medicines or flout prescription requirements, means poor patients have less information to make good choices about the drugs they require.