Overview
- Revised filings cut references to the Cartel de los Soles from dozens to just two and drop language portraying Nicolás Maduro as the cartel’s leader.
- The indictment now alleges Maduro fosters a culture of corruption in which elites enrich themselves through narcotrafficking under a clientelist system.
- Drug and narcoterrorism counts remain in place, and Maduro pleaded not guilty in his New York appearance after being transferred from Caracas with Cilia Flores.
- The legal reframing contrasts with President Trump’s claim that the operation aimed to decapitate the Cartel de los Soles and follows the group’s 2025 FTO designation.
- Analysts long questioned whether the cartel functions as a cohesive hierarchy, a debate the DOJ’s softer terminology appears to acknowledge.