Overview

• The move, coordinated by the foreign affairs, security and justice ministries, cites official reports of transnational crimes including narcotrafficking, contraband and illegal resource exploitation.
• Inclusion on RePET enables asset freezes and operational restrictions intended to curb the group’s operations and protect Argentina’s financial system from illicit use.
• U.S. officials publicly welcomed the step as coalition-building following Washington’s July 25 designation, with Ecuador and Paraguay having taken similar actions.
• Venezuelan authorities reject the allegations and dispute the cartel’s characterization, while Argentina’s security minister celebrated the decision and labeled Nicolás Maduro’s circle “narcoterrorists.”
• The designation draws on years of DEA and U.S. Treasury reporting that describe a network linked to senior Venezuelan figures, a depiction Caracas denies.