{"id":3155,"date":"2025-11-24T09:14:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T09:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3155"},"modified":"2025-11-24T09:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T09:14:02","slug":"us-adds-venezuelan-cartel-to-terror-list-as-military-threat-rises-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=3155","title":{"rendered":"US adds Venezuelan \u2018cartel\u2019 to terror list as military threat rises | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Move offers potential cover as Trump eyes expanded operations against Venezuela\u2019s Maduro.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 24 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">24 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The United States is set to designating Venezuela\u2019s \u201cCartel de los Soles\u201d a foreign \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation (FTO).<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s administration will add the \u201ccartel\u201d, which it asserts is linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to the list on Monday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>However, the entity is not actually a cartel, but rather a common reference to military officers and officials involved in corruption and other illegal activities.<\/p>\n<p>The move, which comes amid a huge military buildup in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela by the US, could offer legal cover to potential direct military action.<\/p>\n<p>Trump is reportedly mulling the next step in his campaign against the South American country. A strike on Venezuelan territory would constitute a major escalation of the months-long US operation in the region, which has seen more than 80 people killed in strikes on boats accused of trafficking drugs.<\/p>\n<p>UN officials and scholars of international law have said that the strikes are in\u00a0clear violation\u00a0of US and international law and amount to extrajudicial executions.<\/p>\n<p>Washington is poised to launch a new phase of operations in the coming days, unnamed US officials told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<p>The report said the exact timing and scope of the new operations, and whether Trump had made a final decision to act, was unclear.<\/p>\n<p>A senior administration official said they would not rule anything out regarding Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the officials said covert operations would likely be the first part of a new action against Maduro, with options under consideration including an attempt to overthrow the longstanding Venezuelan leader.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cartel-de-los-soles\">Cartel de los Soles<\/h2>\n<p>Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running.<\/p>\n<p>As corruption later expanded nationwide, first under the late President Hugo Chavez and then Maduro, the use of the term loosely expanded to include police and government officials, as well as activities like illegal mining and fuel trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201csuns\u201d in the name refer to the epaulettes affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking military officers.<\/p>\n<p>The umbrella term was elevated to a reported drug-trafficking organisation allegedly led by Maduro in 2020, when the US Department of Justice in Trump\u2019s first term announced the indictment of Venezuela\u2019s leader and his inner circle on narcoterrorism and other charges.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro, in power since 2013, contends that Trump seeks to topple him and that Venezuelan citizens and the military will resist any such attempt.<\/p>\n<p>However, the US campaign and the fears of potential military action continue to raise the pressure on Caracas.<\/p>\n<p>Six airlines cancelled their routes to Venezuela on Saturday after the US aviation regulator warned of dangers from \u201cheightened military activity\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Spain\u2019s Iberia, Portugal\u2019s TAP, Chile\u2019s LATAM, Colombia\u2019s Avianca and Brazil\u2019s GOL suspended their flights to the country, said Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association (ALAV).<\/p>\n<p>Turkish Airlines said on Sunday it was also cancelling flights from November 24 to 28.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Move offers potential cover as Trump eyes expanded operations against Venezuela\u2019s Maduro. Published On 24 Nov 202524 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States is set to designating Venezuela\u2019s \u201cCartel de los Soles\u201d a foreign \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation (FTO). President Donald Trump\u2019s administration will add the \u201ccartel\u201d, which it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}