US terrorist designation targets Maduro's alleged drug network

Oscar Medina, Bloomberg News on Nov 23, 2025

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President Donald Trump’s formal designation of Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization will go into effect on Nov. 24, escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.

The U.S. government explicitly accuses the group, whose name translates to Cartel of the Suns, of being led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro himself. The designation comes amid a massive U.S. military buildup and intensified operations in the Caribbean and Pacific targeting alleged drug trafficking organizations.

The decision was published Sunday evening in a federal registry notice dated Nov. 24.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the region in November, sparking fears within the Maduro administration that the U.S. may be preparing to strike targets inside Venezuela. In recent weeks, Washington has already taken direct actions, destroying vessels near Venezuela’s coast suspected of drug trafficking.

As the standoff intensified, repercussions followed during the weekend, as several airlines canceled all flights to and from Venezuela in response to a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration advisory urging operators to “exercise caution” due to the spiraling crisis.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the FTO designation grants the U.S. government “a whole bunch of new options” to confront narco-terrorist groups.

Cartel de los Soles now joins a list of designated foreign terrorist organizations that includes Islamist groups, as well as powerful drug syndicates like Mexican, Ecuadorian, and Colombian cartels, and Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua.