The U.S. State Department announced on Sunday that it will designate the Cartel of the Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) starting November 24. Washington links this group to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro amid a growing military deployment in the Caribbean.
This designation 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 announcement came hours after the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest in the U.S. fleet, 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 being "narcoterrorists," bringing the total of similar bombings to 21 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."
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," affirmed the head of U.S. diplomacy.
The State Department's Bureau for the Western Hemisphere had previewed this designation on July 25, when it explained at the time that this would allow the U.S. "to use all resources at its disposal to prevent President Nicolás Maduro from continuing to benefit 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 "invented that and at that time it has had about 300 leaders, every time someone bothers them, they name them leader of the Cartel of the Soles."
