US Designates Venezuela’s Cartel de los soles as Foreign Terrorist Organization 

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday has formally designated Venezuela’s Cartel de los soles (Cartel of the suns) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The move, which is set to be in effect from November 24^th, 2025, signals a bold move by US as tensions rise between the two nations.

According to the state department’s statement, the cartel de los soles is headed by Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime and has deeply affected Venezuela’s military, intelligence and judiciary. US officials have also accused the Cartel’s regime of working in coordination with several violent criminal networks.

Some of the most notable networks includes the Trend de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, who traffic large quantities of narcotics into the US and use drug trafficking as a a weapon of destabilization.

In his statement, Rubio emphasized that the US would use all available tools to deny the cartel access to funding and resources, and to protect America’s national security. Now as US has labelled the cartel as FTO, they are now treating it on par with globally recognized extremist groups, opening additional counterterrorism options.

This designation as FTO will now criminalize material support for the cartel within the US making it a crime for any individual who knowingly aid or finance their activities.

US labelled Cartel as SDGT in July

Previously back in July, the US labelled the Cartel de los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity. To its result, all property assets tied to the cartel in US jurisdiction are now blocked and US persons are barred from engaging in any transactions with them.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has highlighted this move as exposing the Maduro’s regime and Venezuela’s involvement in narco-terrorism. This designation also carries on the threats of secondary sanctions against foreign institutions that deal with the cartel.