By Caden Olson
The U.S. government intends to designate a cartel it says is headed by Venezuela’s socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), according to a Sunday press release.
The designation targets the Venezuelan-based Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), and cites terrorist violence and drug trafficking as the basis for the new foreign terrorist label. A Sunday press release from the State Department commits to use “all available tools to protect our national security interests and deny funding and resources to narco-terrorists.”
“[T]he Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on Sunday evening. “Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government. Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.”
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during celebrations for the Independence Day, in Caracas on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP) (Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)
The terrorist label seeks to hinder the cartel’s ability to utilize American assets by banning “material support or resources” from U.S. personnel, deeming members of the cartel inadmissible to the U.S., and requiring American financial institutions to take possession of funds related to the cartel, according to the State Department’s press release.
The new designation of the Cartel de los Soles comes amid a buildup of naval forces around Venezuela, encompassing some 10% of total U.S. naval assets. U.S. forces have conducted 21 strikes on alleged narcotrafficking ships since Sept. 2, killing 83 in doing so. The president also authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela in mid-October. (RELATED: Venezuela In The Trump Administration’s Crosshairs: Will War Follow?)
Multiple U.S. government reports describe Maduro as a leader of the Cartel de los Soles.
“Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials,” the Department of State wrote in August. “Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed the Cartel of the Suns to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit for the Cartel of the Suns.”
The Sunday press release from the State Department also alleges collaboration between Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Sinaloa Cartels, both of which are designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
“The Cartel de los Soles supports Tren de Aragua in carrying out its objective of using the flood of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States,” the Department of the Treasury wrote in a July press release. “Additionally, the Cartel de los Soles has provided support to the Sinaloa Cartel.”
“Tren de Aragua is a [FTO] that originated in Venezuela and is involved in the illicit drug trade, human smuggling and trafficking, extortion, sexual exploitation of women and children, and money laundering, among other criminal activities,” the Treasury Department’s July press release added. “The Sinaloa Cartel is an FTO and one of the oldest and most powerful cartels in Mexico, responsible for a significant portion of deadly drugs trafficked into the United States from Mexico.” (RELATED: Vote To Block Trump From Striking Narco Boats In Venezuela Fails, As Shutdown Continues)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 5: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for a secure briefing with lawmakers and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on November 5, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Trump administration continues to carry out military strikes against boats in international waters, and President Trump has recently suggested that military action against Venezuela and Nigeria is a possibility. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
The U.S. Senate attempted earlier in November to limit President Donald Trump’s unilateral action in the Caribbean, citing a need for congressional approval in military deployments. This vote failed 49-51 in early November, with only two Republican senators joining the Democrats in halting the President’s naval activity around Venezuela.
“You’re bringing in one of the largest warships in the world because you’re concerned about small drug-running boats,” Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff said on the day of the vote. “I think it’s really an open secret that this is much more about potential regime change, and if that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking and along with it, a war, then Congress needs to be heard on this.”
