Senator Rick Scott calls on Trump to designate the Venezuelan cartel headed by Diosdado Cabello as a foreign terrorist organization

Republican Senator Rick Scott asked President Donald Trump to designate Venezuela's Cártel de los Soles and the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) as foreign terrorist organizations. In a letter sent Wednesday, Scott argued that both criminal structures, led by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his ally Diosdado Cabello Rondón, pose a serious threat to the security of the United States and the hemisphere.

Criminal networks and security threats

Scott noted that Cártel de los Soles operates as an arm of the Maduro regime for drug trafficking, flooding the U.S. market with cocaine and aggravating the opioid crisis in the country. On the other hand, the DGCIM has been denounced for committing systematic human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, torture and extrajudicial executions. According to a 2022 UN report, this intelligence agency has carried out operations of repression and persecution both inside and outside Venezuela, acting against military personnel and civilians considered opponents of the regime.

"It is important that we continue to evaluate the countless cartels and crime rings that operate within our borders and take the necessary steps to erase their influence throughout America and the hemisphere," Scott stressed.

Call for firm action

In his letter, Scott emphasized the need to continue with a confrontational policy against Chavismo, reversing the appeasement measures that characterized the Biden administration. For the senator, the designation of Cártel de los Soles and the DGCIM as terrorist organizations would strengthen efforts to contain the influence of the Venezuelan regime and reduce the impact of its criminal activities in the region.

"Under the illegitimate Maduro regime, Venezuela poses a substantial threat to democracies across Latin America, and its state-sanctioned drug trafficking activities undermine our nation’s counternarcotics goals in the region. Designating Cartel de los Soles and DGCIM as foreign terrorist organizations is a necessary step to disrupt their malign influence and protect the American people from the deadly flow of illegal drugs into our communities," Scott stated in the letter.

The senator also expressed his commitment to continue working with Trump to promote democracy in Venezuela and end the Maduro dictatorship.