A U.S. Marines UH-1Y Venom helicopter takes off from the U.S. Navy San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Fort Lauderdale while underway in the Caribbean Sea, November 17, 2025. Sgt. Nathan Mitchell/U.S. Marine Corps/Handout via REUTERS

By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Monday formally designated Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization, layering additional terrorism-related sanctions on the group it has said includes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials.

Venezuela's government rejected what it called a "ridiculous" U.S. plan to designate the "non-existent" group.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month his country would announce the designation as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) for its alleged role in importing illegal drugs into the U.S.

Maduro faces escalating pressure from President Donald Trump's massive U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, raising concerns that the U.S. may seek to use the designation to justify military action. Sanctions experts, however, have said the statute for the designation does not authorize such a move.

MADURO ALLEGES U.S. SEEKING REGIME CHANGE

Maduro and his government have always denied any involvement in crime and have accused the U.S. of seeking regime change out of a desire to control Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

“Venezuela categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejects the new and ridiculous fabrication by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, Marco Rubio, which designates the non-existent Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization,” said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on his Telegram account, using the English translation of the group's name.

The measure, Gil added, revives “an infamous and vile lie to justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela, under the classic U.S. regime-change format. This new maneuver will meet the same fate as previous and recurring aggressions against our country: failure."

Reuters reported on Saturday that the U.S. is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, without determining the exact timing or scope of the new operations, nor whether Trump had made a final decision to act.

The Treasury Department in July designated Cartel de los Soles, a reference to the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals, as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," which froze any of its U.S. assets and generally barred Americans from dealing with it.

InSight Crime, a foundation that analyzes organized crime, said in August that it was an "oversimplification" to say Maduro heads the cartel, saying that it "is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers."

(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Rod Nickel)