The Trump administration has escalated its campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by designating the so‑called Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, according to an NPR report. The move, published in the Federal Register on Monday, accuses senior Venezuelan military and political figures of drug trafficking and links the network to Maduro’s government.
The designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization marks a further escalation in the Trump administration's pressure campaign on Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro. According to NPR's reporting, the decision was formalized in a notice published Monday in the Federal Register and framed as part of a broader effort to treat some criminal networks as terrorist threats.
NPR reports that the step follows public accusations from senior U.S. officials that elements of Venezuela’s security and political apparatus are involved in narcotics trafficking and support for armed groups in the region. In line with the administration’s broader approach, the move places the Cartel de los Soles alongside other criminal organizations that have recently been labeled as foreign terrorist organizations or specially designated global terrorists.
The term "Cartel de los Soles," or Cartel of the Suns, dates back to the 1990s, when it was used to describe high‑ranking Venezuelan military officers suspected of profiting from drug‑running. The "suns" refer to the sun‑shaped insignia, or epaulettes, on the uniforms of senior officers. Over time, analysts say, the label has broadened to encompass police, government officials and a web of illicit activities, including drug trafficking, illegal mining and fuel smuggling.
In 2020, during Donald Trump’s first term, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Maduro and several close associates on narcoterrorism and related charges, alleging a conspiracy with Colombian rebels and Venezuelan security figures to "flood the United States with cocaine." Those charged included senior figures such as Diosdado Cabello, a powerful ruling‑party leader and former National Assembly president, and Vladimir Padrino López, the country’s long‑time defense minister, among others.
Experts have long questioned whether the Cartel de los Soles functions as a single, coherent organization. Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, told NPR that it is better understood as a loose, pervasive pattern of corruption within Venezuela’s security forces than as a traditional cartel. "It is not a group," he said. "They don't have regular meetings. They don't have a hierarchy."
Maduro’s government has repeatedly rejected U.S. allegations of drug‑trafficking and terrorism links as a "ridiculous fabrication" aimed at justifying external pressure and possible intervention. The United States and several allies have declined to recognize Maduro’s current term, following a disputed July 2024 election in which opposition and international observers alleged widespread fraud and repression. Many Western governments instead recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as president‑elect. Human rights organizations and U.N. investigators have documented ongoing accusations of abuses by Venezuelan security forces against political opponents and protesters.
The new terrorist designation for the Cartel de los Soles comes in the context of a wider push by the Trump administration to classify some criminal groups as terrorists. Earlier this year, the U.S. government designated the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization and invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify deportations of suspected members, NPR has reported. The administration has taken similar steps against certain Mexican and Central American gangs, arguing that the terrorism label unlocks broader legal and military tools.
NPR’s reporting on related designations notes that such labels can pave the way for expanded financial sanctions, criminal penalties and, potentially, the use of military force. Critics, including some legal and security experts, warn that equating criminal networks with terrorist groups risks blurring legal categories, straining diplomatic relations and provoking retaliatory violence without significantly disrupting drug flows.
While some U.S. officials have publicly argued that these terrorist labels offer "a whole bunch of new options" for pressure on foreign governments and armed groups, NPR does not attribute that specific phrase or any related comments to current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Likewise, there is no public record in NPR’s coverage of U.S. strikes on drug boats off Venezuela’s coast killing more than 80 people as part of a Caribbean military buildup.
NPR has previously reported that the U.S. government increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction, raising it from $15 million to $25 million in early 2025. Washington has also continued to expand sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials accused of corruption, human rights abuses and involvement in narcotics trafficking.
Maduro, for his part, has denied the narcoterrorism charges brought by U.S. prosecutors in 2020, arguing that Washington is seeking to remove him by force. Venezuelan officials have also cited U.N. data to contend that only a small fraction of Colombian cocaine transits their territory, though such figures are difficult to verify independently and are disputed by U.S. agencies and outside analysts.
The Cartel de los Soles designation further entrenches Venezuela’s status as a pariah in the eyes of Washington and could complicate any future negotiations over sanctions relief or political reforms. At the same time, the lack of consensus among experts over whether the cartel exists as a unified entity underscores the challenges U.S. policymakers face in targeting a diffuse system of state‑linked corruption with tools originally designed for traditional terrorist organizations.
