The United States will designate the Venezuela-based Cartel of the Suns as a foreign terrorist organization in one week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Sunday evening.
“The Department of State intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), effective November 24, 2025,” Rubio said in a press release. “Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.”
Rubio also claimed the cartel is led by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and “his cronies” who have “corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.”
The intended designation follows a slew of them on other drug cartels last winter, shortly after President Donald Trump reentered the Oval Office. Those included Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, among others all now designated as terrorist groups.
Notably, Cartel of the Suns was not included in that batch, though the Treasury Department did slap sanctions on it over the summer.
The move from the State Department comes at a precarious time in the region, as Trump has waged a war on drug trafficking and has singled out Maduro, who the U.S. views as an illegitimate leader, as one of its enablers.
It has led to a surging of U.S. military assets to the region, including over a dozen warships, as well as over 20 separate strikes on small alleged drug vessels operating in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.
The increased military action has led Venezuela to deploy “almost 200,000” service members and put “the entire country’s military arsenal on full operational readiness,” according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
Venezuela’s military is also reportedly weighing sabotage tactics in the event the U.S. launches strikes on targets within the country, something Trump has not yet authorized.
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The U.S. president did say over the weekend that he has “sort of made up my mind” on what military action, if any, could be next. Though, speaking to reporters on Sunday night, Trump appeared to leave the door open to negotiations with Venezuela.
“We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out — but they would like to talk,” he said.
