CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump’s administration has on Venezuelan President by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. But the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se.
The designation, published Monday in the Federal Register, is the latest measure in the Trump administration’s into the U.S. In about a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, of being 鈥渞esponsible for terrorist violence鈥� in the Western Hemisphere.
The move comes as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela, which despite bringing up the possibility of talks with Maduro. Land strikes or other actions would be a major expansion of the monthslong operation that has included a in the Caribbean Sea and striking boats accused of trafficking drugs, killing more than 80 people.
Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. As corruption expanded nationwide, first under the late President Hugo Ch谩vez and then under Maduro, its use loosely expanded to police and government officials as well as activities like illegal mining and fuel trafficking. The 鈥渟uns鈥� in the name refer to the epaulettes affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking military officers.
The umbrella term was elevated to a Maduro-led drug-trafficking organization in 2020, when the U.S. Justice Department in Trump’s first term announced the and his inner circle on narcoterrorism and other charges.
鈥淚t is not a group,鈥� said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America organization. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like a group that people would ever identify themselves as members. They don鈥檛 have regular meetings. They don鈥檛 have a hierarchy.鈥�
Trump’s expansion of terror label to cartels
Maduro鈥檚 government in a statement Monday categorically denied the existence of the cartel, describing the Trump administration鈥檚 accusation as a 鈥渞idiculous fabrication鈥� meant to 鈥渏ustify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela.鈥�
Up until this year, the label of foreign terrorist organization had been reserved for groups like the Islamic State or al-Qaida that use violence for political ends. The Trump administration applied it in February to involved in drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and other activities.
The administration blames such designated groups for operating the boats it is striking but rarely identifies the organizations and has not provided any evidence. It says the attacks which began off the coast of Venezuela and , are meant to stop narcotics from flowing to American cities.
But many 鈥� including Maduro himself 鈥� see the military moves as an effort to end the ruling party’s 26-year hold on power.
Since the arrival of U.S. military vessels and troops to the Caribbean months ago, Venezuela鈥檚 also has reignited its perennial promise of removing Maduro from office, fueling speculation over the purpose of what the Trump administration has called a counterdrug operation.
Trump, like his predecessor, does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s leader.
Maduro is on his third term after ruling-party loyalists declared him the winner of last year’s presidential election despite by a more than 2-to-1 margin. He and senior officials have been repeatedly accused of human rights violations against real and perceived government opponents, including in the aftermath of the July 2024 election.
Hegseth says designation offers 鈥榥ew options鈥�
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that the designation of Cartel de los Soles will provide a 鈥渨hole bunch of new options to the United States鈥� for dealing with Maduro. But Hegseth, speaking in an interview with conservative news outlet OAN, did not provide details on what those options are and declined to say whether the U.S. military planned to strike land targets inside Venezuela.
鈥淪o nothing is off the table, but nothing鈥檚 automatically on the table,鈥� he said.
Trump administration officials have signaled that they find it difficult to see a situation in which Maduro remaining in power could be an acceptable endgame. But and non-military options, including covert action by the CIA, for next steps, there is strong belief inside the administration that Maduro鈥檚 rule 鈥渋s not sustainable,鈥� according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter.
The official added that Trump has been keenly listening to his intelligence team, which has reported to him that chatter picked up inside Venezuela indicates growing anxiety from Maduro and other high-level Venezuelan officials as the U.S. strikes continue. Trump, the official said, is 鈥渧ery content and satisfied鈥� for the moment with the strikes’ impact.
All the while, pleas from Maduro and others close to the Venezuelan leader to speak directly to the administration, , seem to be more frantic, the official said. But Trump has not sanctioned any intermediaries to speak to Maduro on behalf of the U.S. administration.
Meanwhile, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was Monday in Puerto Rico and on a Navy warship in the region.
Indictment alleges conspiracy to 鈥榝lood鈥� US with drugs
The 2020 U.S. indictment accused Maduro, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino L贸pez, among others, of conspiring with Colombian rebels and members of the Venezuelan military for several years 鈥渢o flood the United States with cocaine鈥� and use the drug trade as a 鈥渨eapon against America.鈥� Colombia is the world’s top cocaine producer.
Before laying down weapons as part of a 2016 peace deal, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, regularly used the porous border region with Venezuela as a haven and hub for U.S.-bound cocaine shipments 鈥� often with the support or at least consent of Venezuelan security forces. Dissidents continued the work.
The U.S. Justice Department this year doubled to $50 million the reward for information that leads to his arrest.
Maduro has insisted that the U.S. is building a false drug-trafficking narrative to try to force him out. He and other government officials have repeatedly cited a United Nations report that they say shows traffickers attempt to move only 5% of the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Cartel de los Soles in July, saying Maduro and his top allies had bent the power of the Venezuelan government, military and intelligence services to assist the cartel in trafficking narcotics to the U.S.
U.S. authorities also alleged Maduro鈥檚 cartel gave material support to and the Sinaloa cartel, both of which were among the organizations that the U.S. designated as foreign terror organizations in February.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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