US set to label Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization. It’s not a cartel per se

CARACAS Venezuela AP President Donald Trump s administration is set to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicol s Maduro on Monday by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization But the entity that the U S ruling body alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se The designation is the latest measure in the Trump administration s escalating campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U S In previewing the step about a week ago U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles or Cartel of the Suns of being responsible for terrorist violence in the Western Hemisphere The move planned Monday comes as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela which Trump has not ruled out despite bringing up the possibility of talks with Maduro Land strikes or other actions would be a major expansion of the monthslong operation that has included a massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and striking boats accused of trafficking drugs killing more than people Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running As corruption later expanded nationwide first under the late President Hugo Ch vez and then under Maduro its use loosely expanded to police and ruling body functionaries as well as initiatives like illegal mining and fuel trafficking The suns in the name refer to the epaulettes affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking military officers The umbrella term was elevated to a Maduro-led drug-trafficking organization in when the U S Justice Department in Trump s first term publicized the indictment of Venezuela s leader and his inner circle on narcoterrorism and other charges It is not a group declared Adam Isaacson director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America organization It s not like a group that people would ever identify themselves as members They don t have regular meetings They don t have a hierarchy Trump s expansion of terror label to cartels Up until this year the label of foreign terrorist organization had been reserved for groups like the Islamic State or al-Qaida that use violence for political ends The Trump administration applied it in February to eight Latin American criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking migrant smuggling and other initiatives The administration blames such designated groups for operating the boats it is striking but rarely identifies the organizations and has not provided any evidence It says the attacks which began off the coast of Venezuela and later expanded to the eastern Pacific Ocean are meant to stop narcotics from flowing to American cities But multiple including Maduro himself see the military moves as an effort to end the ruling party s -year hold on power Since the arrival of U S military vessels and troops to the Caribbean months ago Venezuela s U S -backed political opposition also has reignited its perennial promise of removing Maduro from office fueling speculation over the purpose of what the Trump administration has called a counterdrug operation Trump like his predecessor does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela s president Maduro is on his third term in office after ruling-party loyalists declared him the winner of last year s presidential ballot despite credible evidence that the opposition s candidate defeated him by a more than -to- margin He and senior executives have been repeatedly accused of human rights violations of real and perceived establishment opponents including in the aftermath of the July balloting Hegseth says designation offers new options U S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commented last week that the upcoming designation of Cartel de los Soles will provide a whole bunch of new options to the United States for dealing with Maduro But Hegseth speaking in an interview with conservative news outlet OAN did not provide details on what those options are and declined to say whether the U S military planned to strike land targets inside Venezuela So nothing is off the table but nothing s automatically on the table he commented Trump administration authorities have signaled that they find it hard to see a situation in which Maduro remaining in power could be an acceptable end event But as Trump considers an array of military and non-military options including covert action by the CIA for next measures there is strong belief inside the administration that Maduro s rule is not sustainable according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter The official added that Trump has been keenly listening to his intelligence association which has published to him that chatter picked up inside Venezuela indicates growing anxiety from Maduro and other high-level Venezuelan authorities as the U S strikes continue Trump the official stated is very content and satisfied for the moment with the strikes impact All the while pleas from Maduro and others close to the Venezuelan leader to speak directly to the administration relayed through various intermediaries and channels seem to be more frantic the official stated But Trump has not sanctioned any intermediaries to speak to Maduro on behalf of the U S administration Indictment alleges conspiracy to flood US with drugs The indictment accused Maduro Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino L pez among others of conspiring with Colombian rebels and members of the Venezuelan military for several years to flood the United States with cocaine and use the drug bargain as a weapon against America Colombia is the world s top cocaine producer Before laying down weapons as part of a peace deal members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC regularly used the porous perimeter region with Venezuela as a safe haven and hub for U S -bound cocaine shipments often with the endorsement or at least consent of Venezuelan protection forces Dissidents continued the work Colombia s National Liberation Army guerrilla is also involved in the illegal deal Maduro has denied the charges The U S Justice Department this year doubled to million the reward for information that leads to Maduro s arrest Maduro has insisted that the U S is building a false drug-trafficking narrative to try to force him from office He and other executive administrators have repeatedly cited a United Nations overview that they say shows traffickers attempt to move only of the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela The U S Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Cartel de los Soles in July saying Maduro and his top allies had bent the power of the Venezuelan executive military and intelligence services to assist the cartel in trafficking narcotics to the U S U S officers also alleged Maduro s cartel gave material help to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa cartel both of which were among the organizations that the U S designated as foreign terror organizations in February