Clíver Alcalá Cordones

Cliver Antonio Alcalá Cordones (born 21 November 1961), is a retired Venezuelan major general and a member of the Bolivarian Army. Alcalá was one of the soldiers who participated in the attempted coup d'état against President Carlos Andrés Pérez in February 1992, and served as chief of garrison in the cities of both Valencia and Maracay, and finally as general commander of the Integral Defense Region in Guayana (REDI-Guayana). On 5 July 2013, he ended his military career and began to criticize the government of Nicolás Maduro. In 2019, he declared his support for proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó.

In 2011, Alcalá was accused by the United States government of being a drug trafficker and a member of the Cartel of the Suns. However, in 2023, these accusations were withdrawn. In 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice admitted that the Cartel of the Suns is not a real group. Alcalá moved from Venezuela to Barranquilla, Colombia in 2018 and emerged as a forceful opponent of Maduro, described as the "ringleader" of the Venezuelan military deserters.

In March 2020, Alcalá turned himself in to US authorities in Barranquilla, Colombia after the US Department of State and the Drug Enforcement Administration offered a US$10 million reward for his capture. However, on June 30, 2023, the United States dropped the narcoterrorism charges, and Alcalá pleaded guilty to lesser offenses for supporting a terrorist organization in 2006. He delivered two grenade launchers to the FARC in exchange for the release of kidnapped Venezuelan businessmen.