São Paulo, Brazil — The United States government on Monday designated the Cártel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Organized crime analysts have disputed the US’ description of Cártel de los Soles as a cartel in the traditional sense, saying that the name had been given to describe mostly disconnected factions within Venezuela’s military that traffic in narcotics.
Most see the designation as military posturing as U.S. troops and Navy ships build up off the coast of Venezuela.
Yván Gil Pinto, Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Relations, said in a statement shared on Telegram that the U.S. move is an attempt to intervene illegally in the country and does not contribute to the fight against drug trafficking.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela urges the United States government to rectify this erratic policy of aggression and threats, strongly rejected by the people of the United States themselves, which hinders the development of the Caribbean peoples and contributes nothing to a true and genuine fight against drug trafficking,” read a letter shared by the minister.
The White House had showed its interest in designating the Cartel de los Soles a terrorist organization on November 16, claiming the cartel is controlled by autocratic President Nicolás Maduro and “other high-ranking individuals” of the Venezuelan government who have “corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary,” according to Washington.
“Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government. 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,” read the November 16 statement.
President Donald Trump has been authorizing attacks on boats in the Caribbean under the pretext of combating Latin American drug cartels. Eighty-three people in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean have been killed by U.S. strikes thus far with the U.S. offering little to no evidence of who was on the boats. The UN has condemned the U.S. boat strikes as extrajudicial executions.
In October, Trump ordered a diplomatic outreach to Venezuela, paving the way for further military escalation among the tension between the two countries, according to a report from the New York Times.
The US has also deployed eight naval ships, a submarine, and 10,000 service members to the Caribbean, presented as part of an operation against drug trafficking.
Featured image description: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro
Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons.
