The United States designated a Venezuelan cartel led by Maduro as a terrorist organization

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has designated the Cártel de Los Soles as an international terrorist organization, including it on its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN).

This action means that any individual or entity maintaining ties with the group could be subject to secondary sanctions, and is part of a broader government strategy focused on combating drug trafficking and protecting national security from transnational threats.

According to an official statement, the Cártel de Los Soles, led by members of the Chavista dictatorship since its inception, acts as a transnational terrorist group and criminal organization, with operations that threaten regional stability and enable the Maduro regime to be sustained with drug trafficking money.

The origins of the Cártel de Los Soles

Neither the Ministry of Communications of Venezuela nor Maduro replied publicly to the designation. In the past, the tyrant has rejected the accusations, calling them smear campaigns and criticizing the United States.

The Cártel de Los Soles has been under investigation since 1993, when Chavista generals of the National Guard, Ramón Guillén Dávila and Orlando Hernández Villegas, were prosecuted for drug trafficking.

Initially, the military officers were accused of accepting bribes to allow the passage of drugs, but over time their involvement deepened to the point of direct transportation and distribution of narcotics.

During the 2000s, high-ranking Venezuelan government officials, such as Hugo Carvajal, Henry Rangel Silva, and Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, were accused of collaborating with the Colombian FARC guerrilla in drug trafficking activities.

Maduro and Diosdado, leaders of the terrorist group

In March 2020, the United States Department of Justice formally charged Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and other high-ranking officials with their leadership in the operations of the Cártel de Los Soles, attributing to them charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Cabello is considered a central figure in the cartel's structure, using his position of power to facilitate illicit operations.

Another key actor linked to the regime, the super minister Tareck El Aissami, was arrested in 2024 on corruption charges related to the state oil company PDVSA.

The U.S. designation comes amid an alarming context of expansion of the criminal group Tren de Aragua, which keeps ties with both the Cártel de Los Soles and Mexico's Cártel de Sinaloa, also classified as a terrorist organization.

The expansion of Tren de Aragua raises concerns in the United States

Tren de Aragua, originating in Venezuela, has expanded its criminal influence to more than a dozen states in the United States and several Latin American countries, engaging in crimes such as extortion, human trafficking, drug trafficking, robberies, and armed violence.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, stated during his Senate confirmation hearing that drug trafficking networks are connected to broader crimes such as terrorism and human trafficking.

The U.S. administration, under a strengthened national security policy, has reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling these criminal structures internationally. Ongoing investigations seek to completely dismantle the financial and operational network of the Cártel de Los Soles, as well as its ties to other organized crime groups.