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US Designates Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as Terrorist Organization

Treasury sanctions freeze US assets tied to the network to boost financial pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s regime

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates the results of the parliamentary and regional elections at the Bolivar square in Caracas on May 25, 2025.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a press conference, in Caracas, Venezuela March 17, 2025. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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Overview

  • OFAC designated Cartel de los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization, explicitly naming President Nicolás Maduro as its head.
  • The ruling immediately blocks all property and interests of the cartel and its members within the United States.
  • Treasury officials cited the cartel’s financial and logistical support for Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel in trafficking, extortion, and other transnational crimes.
  • Senator Rick Scott praised the designation for enhancing US safety by disrupting the group’s drug networks.
  • The move builds on prior terror designations of major cartels and aims to increase external pressure on Maduro’s regime.