The U.S. Department of State announced on Sunday that it has designated the Cartel of the Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The group is linked by Washington to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro amid a growing military deployment in the Caribbean. This designation, effective November 24, comes after the U.S. Treasury Department classified the Cartel of the Soles as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) in July, although the Venezuelan government asserted in August that this organization is an 'invention' of the United States. 'Based in Venezuela, the Cartel of the Soles is led by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals in Maduro's illegitimate regime who have corrupted Venezuela's military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary,' stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement. The military deployment in the Caribbean and the Pacific The announcement comes hours after the arrival of the U.S. Navy's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, in the Caribbean on Sunday as part of the military deployment ordered by Trump in the region. Additionally, the U.S. announced on Sunday the destruction of another vessel allegedly carrying drugs in the Pacific Ocean, where it killed three men on board whom it accused of 'narcoterrorists,' bringing the total to 21 similar bombings and over 80 dead since September. Without mentioning these attacks, Rubio warned in his statement that 'the United States will continue to use all available tools to protect its national security interests and deny funding and resources to narcoterrorists.' Accusations against Maduro The Secretary of State also asserted that 'neither Maduro nor his cronies represent the legitimate government of Venezuela.' 'The Cartel of the Soles, and other designated FTOs, including the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, are responsible for terrorist violence across the hemisphere, as well as for drug trafficking to the United States and Europe,' stated the head of American diplomacy. The State Department's Bureau for Western Hemisphere Affairs had previewed this designation on July 25, when it explained that this would allow the U.S. to 'use all resources at its disposal to prevent President Nicolás Maduro from continuing to profit from the destruction of American lives.' Following that announcement, Venezuela's Minister of Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, stated in August that 'the Cartel of the Soles is an invention,' that Americans 'made that up and in that time it has had about 300 leaders, every time someone bothers them they put them as leader of the Cartel of the Soles.'
