Why the U.S. Views Maduro as a Narco-Terrorist Instead of Venezuela’s President

(Analysis) The Cartel de los Soles, often called the “Cartel of the Suns,” is a powerful criminal network embedded within Venezuela’s military and government.

This group, named after the sun-like insignia on Venezuelan generals’ uniforms, has long been accused of running massive drug trafficking operations while blending seamlessly with state power.

In a major escalation, on July 25, 2025, the United States designated it as a specially designated global terrorist organization through the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

This move highlights its role in supporting other violent groups, like the Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, by providing them with resources, protection, and logistics to traffic drugs across borders.

Ecuador followed suit on August 14, 2025, with President Daniel Noboa declaring it a terrorist group linked to organized crime, citing threats to regional security.

Paraguay joined just days later, on August 20, 2025, when President Santiago Peña signed a decree labeling it an international terrorist organization, making it the third country to take this step in quick succession.

Argentina is reportedly preparing its own decree to do the same, signaling a growing regional coalition against the cartel.

The cartel’s origins trace back to the 1990s, when Venezuelan military officers began collaborating with drug traffickers, initially by taking bribes to ignore shipments.

The term “Cartel of the Suns” first appeared in 1993 during investigations into two National Guard generals, Ramón Guillén Dávila and Orlando Hernández Villegas, who were indicted for drug trafficking in the U.S.

It gained notoriety in the early 2000s through the work of journalist and city councilman Mauro Marcano, who accused high-ranking National Guard officers of controlling cocaine routes.

Marcano planned to present evidence publicly but was assassinated on September 1, 2004, just days before his testimony. His murder involved multiple gunshots while he was in his car.

The killing underscored the dangers of exposing the group and cemented its name in security discussions across the region. By 2005, international media like The Miami Herald reported on the cartel as a coalition of army and National Guard generals deeply involved in smuggling.

Over the years, investigations linked it to Colombian paramilitary leaders like Hermágoras González Polanco and key smuggling corridors along Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil.

Under leaders like Nicolás Maduro, who heads the cartel according to U.S. officials, it has evolved into a sophisticated operation corrupting Venezuela‘s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.

The group uses state infrastructure—airports, seaports, and military convoys—to move massive quantities of cocaine.

For instance, in 2013, Venezuelan National Guard members were implicated in loading 1.3 tons of cocaine onto an Air France flight to Paris, marking one of the largest seizures in France’s history.

In 2014, a National Guard commander was arrested with 554 kilograms of cocaine in his vehicle. More recently, the cartel has been tied to trafficking networks that flood the U.S. with fentanyl and other drugs, contributing to over 100,000 overdose deaths annually in America alone, as per broader drug trade statistics.

Venezuela’s role in global cocaine trafficking has surged; by 2025 estimates from the UN’s World Drug Report, the country facilitates the movement of hundreds of tons of cocaine yearly, often in partnership with groups like the FARC dissidents and other transnational criminals.

The cartel’s alliances amplify its threat. It provides “material support” to the Tren de Aragua, a gang born in Venezuelan prisons under leader Héctor “Niño Guerrero” Guerrero Flores.

The group now operates in at least eight Latin American countries and the U.S. Tren de Aragua is involved in human trafficking, extortion, sexual exploitation, and murders.

It exploits Venezuelan migrant flows—over 7.7 million people have fled Venezuela since 2014, with many becoming victims or recruits.

In Chile, for example, the gang was linked to the 2025 kidnapping and murder of former Venezuelan lieutenant Ronald Ojeda, an operation allegedly ordered from Venezuela.

Similarly, the cartel aids the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and deadliest, responsible for trafficking a significant portion of fentanyl into the U.S., fueling violence that kills thousands annually—Sinaloa-related conflicts alone caused over 30,000 homicides in Mexico in 2024.

These partnerships have led to spikes in regional violence; in Ecuador, cartel-linked gangs contributed to a 300% rise in homicides from 2020 to 2024, prompting states of emergency.

U.S. cartel sanctions trigger denials and rifts

The 2025 terrorist designations unlock powerful tools: freezing assets, banning travel, and prosecuting supporters. Shortly after, the U.S. doubled its bounty on Maduro to $50 million on August 7, 2025, for narco-terrorism charges.

This pressures the entire network, from pilots and bankers to shell companies. Venezuela’s government denies the cartel’s existence, with Minister Diosdado Cabello calling it a U.S. “invention” on August 7, 2025, and framing accusations as imperial attacks.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro echoed this, stating on August 25, 2025, that the cartel “does not exist.” Despite denials, endorsements from Ecuador and Paraguay show shifting regional dynamics, potentially leading to more coalitions.