Hegseth: Designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization will give Trump 'a whole bunch of new options' for dealing with narco-terrorism

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the upcoming designation of the Cartel de los Soles—the criminal network allegedly headed by Nicolás Maduro—as a foreign terrorist organization will provide "a lot of new options" to President Donald Trump's administration to confront narcoterrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

During a press conference at the Pentagon, Hegseth confirmed that the State Department will officially designate the Cartel of the Suns as a foreign terrorist organization on November 24, making it the ninth criminal network to receive this designation under Executive Order 14157 since February.

"[The terror designation] gives more tools to our [War] Department to give options to [President Donald J. Trump] to ultimately say our hemisphere will not be controlled by narco-terrorists, it will not be controlled by cartels, [and] it will not be controlled by what illegitimate regimes try to push toward the American people. So, it's just about options, and we plan better than any organization in the world here,"  the Pentagon chief said.

The fight against Nicolás Maduro's cartel

The war secretary, after being asked if any action is off the table in the fight against the cartel linked to the Venezuelan regime, Hegseth responded that no decision related to the fight against the cartel of Maduro "is off the table", but also "nothing is automatically on the table".

However, he avoided commenting on whether there are plans to extend operations beyond the maritime attacks that the Southern Command has been executing since September—at least 20 confirmed lethal actions against drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, and reiterated that "it would be inappropriate" to discuss possible ground operations against Venezuela.

But he emphasized, “we have a lot of options; we'll make sure we have the authorities to do so, and we will protect the American people."

Hegseth also referred to U.S. military experience in the war on terrorism over the past two decades: "Our ability to range and reach narco-terrorists in, say, Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan for 20 years is about as well-honed as any machine — better than any machine in the world,"

He further added that, if necessary, that same pressure can be applied in the Western Hemisphere; "nobody would do it better, whether it's on land or in the maritime." 

Regarding the ongoing Operation Southern Spear, the secretary issued a direct warning to drug traffickers: "Don't get in a boat, because it's going to end poorly for you."

On Mexico

Regarding Mexico and the joint work between the two nations, despite tensions, Hegseth acknowledged progress in some sectors but insisted, "We believe that Mexico should address that cartel problem and be really aggressive about it, and they have done so in some quarters. But, in others, the poisoning of the American people still continues, and—as the president has said—we are going to stop this."