#cartel-de-los-soles

#cartel-de-los-soles

The United States has designated Venezuela's so-called Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization, marking the latest escalation in US-Venezuela tensions. Washington alleges Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads the organisation, which, the US says, is involved in widespread corruption and drug trafficking. Maduro denies the accusations amid growing fears of potential US military action in the region, and his government has called the cartel an invention.

Amid growing tensions between Washington and Caracas, the US has gathered its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. Donald Trump's administration has steadily increased pressure on Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of running the Cartel of the Suns drug-trafficking organization, and placing a $50m bounty on his head. The US leader has been opaque about his intentions and Trump says he is keeping all options on the table from a military intervention to a negotiated exit for Maduro.

Following a US attack on a suspected "drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela" that killed 11, Caracas has warned the US against using its military for "regime change." The US has deployed several warships to the Caribbean. The White House said, without providing evidence, that the people killed in the boat that had departed from Venezuela were "narco-terrorists" and part of the transnational Tren de Aragua group.