US Declares Nicolás Maduro’s Cartel of the Suns as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization”
Rafa Gómez-Santos Martín
Elevates the Chavista Regime to Formal Enemy of the State Status: The Last Legal Step Before Military Action
The United States government has taken one of the most forceful steps in recent decades against Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
The State Department announced the designation of the Cartel of the Suns, a criminal structure directly linked to the Chavista apparatus, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), a measure that will take effect on November 24.
With this declaration, Washington formally places the Venezuelan regime in the category of an enemy state.
Until now, the Cartel of the Suns was listed only as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), a classification primarily focused on enforcing financial sanctions.
But the FTO designation represents a qualitative leap: it allows the application of much stricter criminal, operational, and national security tools, including the possibility of prosecuting any individual or entity that provides material, financial, or logistical support to the cartel.
US authorities maintain that the Cartel of the Suns operates under the direct leadership of Nicolás Maduro and key figures of the Chavista regime, who have allegedly transformed state institutions—such as the military, intelligence, judiciary, and legislature—into instruments serving narcoterrorism.
The accusation is unequivocal: a political regime transformed into a criminal organization with a state structure.
Washington also points out that the Cartel of the Suns maintains active alliances with international criminal networks and groups responsible for violence in the hemisphere.
These connections, according to the US government, consolidate the terrorist nature of the Chavista apparatus, whose reach goes beyond Venezuelan borders.
The FTO designation has immediate repercussions. Any person or company collaborating with the cartel may face criminal charges, asset freezes, disqualification from operating in the US, and even deportation.
The US government considers this measure as reinforcing national security, protecting American families, and preserving public order against external threats.