Starting this Monday, the United States Department of State will designate the Cartel of the Suns, an organization about which very little is known and which Washington, as a foreign terrorist group (FTO), at a time marked by the increase in the pressure strategy of the White House on the Executive of .
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, already announced on November 16 that, according to the Donald Trump Government, it demonstrates that the Cartel of the Suns complies with the conditions described in the immigration and nationality law that regulates the designation of FTOs.
That rule establishes that an FTO must be a foreign group that participates “in terrorist activities or terrorism” and that must “threaten the security of American citizens or the national security of the United States,” which includes the areas of defense, foreign relations or economic interests.
This decision comes after the US Treasury Department already classified the Cartel of the Suns in July as a specially designated global terrorist group (SDGT), although the Venezuelan Government asserted then that this organization is an “invention” of the United States.
The context
Rubio believes that the Cartel de los Soles, and other designated FTOs, and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence in the American hemisphere, as well as trafficking drugs to the United States and Europe.
Although US authorities assure that the Cartel of the Suns (a name that supposedly comes from the insignia worn by the generals) is a group made up mainly of Venezuelan soldiers since the 1990s, the investigations of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) were not made official until March 2020, during Trump’s first term.
It was then that the Department of Justice formally recognized the existence of this group that it claims is headed by the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his head of the Interior, .
The designation of the cartel as FTO coincides with the intensification of Trump’s pressure strategy on Maduro through a growing military deployment in the southern Caribbean Sea, with which the White House says it seeks to combat drug trafficking, which has led to the summary destruction of around twenty – of what Washington claims are – drug boats and the death of 83 of their occupants.
Armed action?
The definition of the FTO list in the State Department does not speak of military actions, but according to the US Secretary of Defense, this designation “gives the United States many new options”; One of the most important is that, from that moment on, any person in the country who provides material support to that group would be committing a crime.
that Washington is preparing to launch a new phase of operations related to Venezuela in the coming days, according to four US officials. This outlet was unable to determine the exact timing or scope of the new operations, or whether President Trump had made the final decision to act. Reports of imminent action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid deteriorating relations with Venezuela.
Two of the US officials who have spoken to Reuters said covert operations would likely be the first part of new actions against Maduro. The four officials cited in this article spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the impending US action. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House. The CIA declined to comment.
On Saturday, a senior Administration official did not rule out anything regarding Venezuela. “President Trump is willing to use every resource of American power to stop the flow of drugs into our country and bring those responsible to justice,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“President Trump is willing to use every resource of American power to stop the flow of drugs into our country and bring those responsible to justice.”
The Trump administration has been weighing options related to Venezuela to combat what it has described as “Maduro’s role” in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The Chavista, however, has denied having links to drug trafficking.
Two more US officials told Reuters that options under consideration included .
Maduro, in power since 2013, has claimed that Trump seeks to overthrow him and that Venezuelan citizens and the military will resist any such attempt. The Venezuelan president, who celebrated his 63rd birthday this Sunday with popular mobilization, appeared on Saturday night at the Teatro Principal in Caracas for the premiere of a television series based on his life.
The military buildup in the Caribbean has been underway for months, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned major airlines on Friday about a “potentially dangerous situation” when flying over Venezuela and urged them to act with caution.
No flights bound for Venezuela will leave the Madrid-Barajas airport this Monday, after the alert issued on Friday. Among the airlines that have confirmed the suspension of their flights to the country is Iberia, as well as the Portuguese TAP, the Colombian Avianca, the Trinidadian Caribbean, the Brazilian GOL and the Chilean Latam. Air Europa, which also operates flights to the Caribbean country, has not yet canceled since the first scheduled flight is for Tuesday the 25th and a company spokesperson has explained to the EFE Agency that they are “monitoring the situation.” Iberia, which makes five weekly flights to Venezuela – the first of which is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday – was the first to agree to the suspension.
Two US officials recognized the conversations between Caracas and Washington, despite everything, after Trump himself gave his opinion last week, leaving the door open to an attack and, at the same time, to negotiating with the ruling party. It was not clear whether such talks could affect the timing or scale of U.S. operations.
The US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, , arrived in the Caribbean on November 16 with its strike group, joining at least seven other warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft.
Image from the video released by the US War Department of the last attack on a ship in the Caribbean, on November 7, 2025.
83 dead, zero evidence
So far, US forces in the region have focused on counternarcotics operations, despite the fact that their accumulated firepower far exceeds what they need. US troops have carried out at least 21 attacks on suspected drug ships in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, killing at least 83 people.
Human rights groups have condemned the attacks as illegal extrajudicial executions of civilians and some US allies have expressed growing concern about the possibility that Washington is violating international law, that extrajudicial executions are being carried out directly, since no evidence has been provided of the criminality of those attacked.
In August, Washington for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
The US military dwarfs that of Venezuela, which is weakened by lack of training, low salaries and deteriorating equipment. Some unit commanders have been forced to negotiate with local food producers to feed their troops due to a shortage of government supplies, Reuters reported.
That reality has led the Maduro government to consider alternative strategies in the event of a US intervention, which could include a guerrilla-type response, which the government has called “prolonged resistance” and mentioned in state television broadcasts.
This strategy would involve small military units in more than 280 locations carrying out acts of sabotage and other guerrilla tactics, Reuters reported, citing sources and years-old planning documents.
