Maduro’s Designation as a Member of a Terrorist Group Comes into Effect

The Trump administration could have expanded authority to act in Venezuela starting this Monday (24) after the United States designated Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization. The designation of the ‘Cartel de los Soles,’ an expression that experts say is more a description of alleged corrupt government officials than an organized criminal group, as a foreign terrorist organization will authorize President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions targeting Maduro’s assets and infrastructure. However, according to legal experts, this does not explicitly authorize the use of lethal force. Nevertheless, administration officials have argued that the designation — one of the most serious counterterrorism tools of the State Department — will provide Americans with expanded military options for attacks within Venezuela. The Cartel de los Soles is used to describe a decentralized network of Venezuelan groups within the armed forces linked to drug trafficking, according to experts. The dictator has always denied any personal involvement in drug trafficking, and his government has repeatedly denied the existence of the alleged cartel, which some experts suggest technically does not exist in the conventional sense.