US adds new terror designation to cartel it linked to Maduro

Eric Martin and Wendy Benjaminson, Bloomberg News on Nov 16, 2025

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The U.S. plans to designate a Venezuelan drug cartel allegedly led by Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization, expanding the legal case for more aggressive action as it masses military assets in the Caribbean after months of deadly boat strikes.

The designation will take effect on Nov. 24, the State Department said Sunday. In addition to banning entry of members of the Cartel de los Soles to the U.S. and allowing the U.S. government to seize the organization’s funds, the tag criminalizes support for the organization.

The move follows a more than two-month campaign of lethal attacks on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, which have killed about 80 people. The latest attack was on Saturday, according to U.S. Southern Command, killing three people.

Trump has said the Pentagon would expand that campaign to targets on Venezuelan soil, saying late last month that “the land is going to be next.”

On Sunday, Trump told reporters he hasn’t made a decision on next steps but that the Venezuelan government wants to talk to the U.S.

“We may be having some discussions with Maduro and we’ll see how that turns out,” Trump said as he left Florida to return to the White House.

“Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolas 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 said in a statement on Sunday. “Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government.”

The announcement also followed the arrival of a strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean Sea. That bolsters an already greatly expanded U.S. military presence off the coast of South America that has fanned speculation of a broader attack on Venezuela.

The Treasury Department in July deemed the cartel a specially designated global terrorist group, a sanctions tool that causes some financial isolation.

“They are likely looking for more ways to justify military action if they decide to do so,” said Brian Nichols, who was the State Department’s top official for the Western Hemisphere in the Biden administration. “This is a more political designation than one based on new information.”

Trump said Friday he had “sort of made up my mind” when asked if he had come to a decision on next steps with Venezuela. “I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One last week.

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(With assistance from Catherine Lucey.)