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ANALYSIS

Maduro’s Regime Now on Par With Al-Qaeda: U.S. Designates the Cartel of the Suns as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The designation was announced in the midst of the military deployment initiated in August by President Donald Trump's administration in the Caribbean.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference in Caracas on September 1, 2025. Guyana's President Irfaan Ali, expressed on Monday his support for the deployment of US military forces in the Caribbean, while Caracas accused him of seeking to encourage a 'war front' due to allegations of a supposed attack from Venezuela against a Guyanese vessel. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

MaduroAFP

Víctor Mendoza
Published by

Published / Updated

2 minutes read

The Federal Register published Monday that the State Department designated the Cartel of the Suns as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

"Based upon a review of the Administrative Record assembled in this matter, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I have concluded that there is a sufficient factual basis to find that the relevant circumstances described in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (hereinafter “INA”) (8 U.S.C. 1189), exist with respect to: Cartel de los Soles (also known as Cartel of the Suns)," the Federal Register wrote.

The designation was announced amid the military deployment launched in August by President Donald Trump's administration in the Caribbean. Over the weekend six airlines canceled their connections to Venezuela following a U.S. warning to civil aviation about a "military surge" amid these military maneuvers.

The measure was signed by Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and takes effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register.

In a message broadcast on X, Rubio stated that the network, which Washington points out is led by Nicolás Maduro, has corrupted government institutions in Venezuela and is "responsible for terrorist violence across our hemisphere."

The regime's response

Meanwhile, the Nicolas Maduro regime on Monday described the designation as a "ridiculous hoax."

"Venezuela categorically, firmly and absolutely rejects the new and ridiculous hoax by the Secretary of the U.S. State Department, Marco Rubio, which designates the non-existent Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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