Trump issues ultimatum to Maduro: he will designate the Cartel of the Suns as an international terrorist organization on November 24

The Department of State announced that it will designate Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). According to a statement released by the agency headed by Marco Rubio, the organization is led by the dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and is responsible for "acts of terrorist violence throughout the hemisphere, as well as drug trafficking to the United States and Europe."

The designation as an FTO is given under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Among other things, it makes it a federal offense to support the group in question, along with financial penalties and immigration restrictions on its members. In turn, in this geopolitical context, it is a strong message to the Venezuelan regime.

According to the aforementioned statement, the designation would take effect next November 24 and seeks to reaffirm the Trump administration's intention to "protect our national security interests and deny funding and resources to narco-terrorists."

"State Department intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Headed by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," Rubio posted on his X account.

The announcement came just hours after the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Southern Spear. It is an unprecedented military deployment announced by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to combat drug trafficking in the region. It also includes nearly 12,000 troops and almost a dozen Navy ships.

Back in July, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had already designated Cartel de los Soles as a transnational terrorist group.