With U.S. warships massing offshore, new terror label seen as final deadline for Maduro

The United States will designate Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on Nov. 24, a dramatic escalation in Washington’s confrontation with strongman Nicolás Maduro and his closest allies.

The move is being widely read in Venezuelan political circles as an ultimatum: a final window for Maduro to negotiate his exit or face what many see as the most serious U.S. threat to his rule to date, as the U.S. deploys the largest concentration of military assets in the Caribbean in decades.

In a statement late Sunday, the State Department said the cartel — which the U.S. says is headed by Maduro and top figures of his “illegitimate regime” — has penetrated Venezuela’s military, intelligence services, legislature and courts while partnering with other terrorist-designat