The US declares Maduro a terrorist amid escalating military tensions with Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and high-ranking members of his government were set to be officially considered by the United States as members of a foreign terrorist organization on Monday, the day the designation becomes effective. Including the so-called Cartel of the Suns on the State Department’s list allows Washington to impose new sanctions against the Chavista regime, as the U.S. claims that Maduro is the head of this cartel. Senior officials in the Trump administration believe the move expands their options for military action within Venezuela.

Meanwhile, tension remains high as everyone awaits the next steps in the massive U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, especially after the arrival last week of the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the world’s largest and most modern, ostensibly to combat drug trafficking in what has been dubbed Operation Southern Spear. The fleet, which comprises 20% of the U.S. naval force deployed worldwide and includes F-35 fighter jets and some 15,000 troops, has participated in military exercises near Trinidad and Tobago in recent days.

Four senior U.S. officials have separately told Reuters that the start of the second phase of the military operation is imminent, while international airlines are suspending flights over Venezuela following a recommendation from the U.S. aviation agency, issued on Friday, to avoid the area due to the risk of a military escalation.

Officially, Washington has not confirmed any travel plans. President Trump chose to remain in the capital over the weekend after spending several other weekends at his private residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, where he likes to spend his leisure time playing golf. Instead, he remained at the White House, although his office did not report any public or private activities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Geneva to participate in talks on the U.S. peace plan for Ukraine.

The State Department, which in February already designated the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua and the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel on its list of foreign terrorist organizations — a list that already includes groups such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State — announced a week ago that it would also include the Cartel of the Suns on that list starting Monday.

The so-called Cartel of the Suns is not an organized criminal gang per se, like the Colombian or Mexican cartels. Rather, it is an expression used to refer to a collection of decentralized groups, without any hierarchy or structure, comprised of high-ranking officials in the Venezuelan government and armed forces who collaborate with drug trafficking and finance themselves through these activities.

“Rather than a hierarchical organization, the Cartel of the Suns functions as a loose network of cells within the army, navy, air force, and Bolivarian National Guard [Guardia Nacional Bolivariana–GNB], spanning from the lowest to the highest ranks. These groups operate essentially as drug trafficking organizations,” states the think tank Insightcrime on its website. “It is not clear how these cells relate to one another, or whether they interact at all.”

The United States maintains that its military deployment in the Caribbean, which has so far targeted at least 20 suspected drug-trafficking boats in bombings that have killed at least 83 people, is solely aimed at combating drug trafficking. But Maduro, and many others, believe the true goal of the operation may be to force the overthrow of the Chavista leader, whom Washington does not recognize as the legitimate president of the Caribbean nation.

The United States has labeled Maduro the leader of the Cartel of the Suns. In August, it doubled the reward for his capture to $50 million.

Although the designation of the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization — announced on November 16 and effective on the 24 — does not in itself authorize the use of military force, the U.S. administration has made it clear that it does interpret it as a legal path for possible attacks on Venezuelan territory.

“It gives a whole bunch of new options to the United States,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last Thursday. Trump has also indicated that the new designation would allow attacks on Maduro’s infrastructure and assets in Venezuela, but he has also expressed openness to diplomatic contacts with Caracas.

New phase

The U.S. president has alluded on several occasions to the beginning of a “new phase” in Operation Southern Spear, which could include ground operations. He has also confirmed that he has authorized U.S. intelligence services to conduct covert missions in that country.

According to Reuters, citing four senior officials, the new phase could begin in the coming days. Two of the sources indicated that this phase could initially start with covert operations. Two other sources also indicated that the overthrow of Maduro is among the options being considered.

In the statement on November 16, the U.S. State Department said that “based in Venezuela, the Cartel of the Suns is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.”

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Trump had approved a plan for covert CIA operations in Venezuela that could pave the way for a broader military campaign. The newspaper noted that it was unclear exactly what kind of operations Trump had authorized or when they might take place.

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