As United States carried out strikes in Venezuela on Saturday, two months ago, the US Department of State designated the Cartel de los Soles, a group it claims is led by Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, along with senior members of his government, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, allegedly responsible for terrorist violence across the hemisphere and for trafficking drugs into the US and Europe.
It also mentioned designated FTOs such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, adding, “The United States will continue using all available tools to protect our national security interests and deny funding and resources to narco-terrorists.”
The term Cartel de los Soles first reportedly appeared in the early 1990s. It was introduced by Venezuelan media following drug-trafficking allegations against a general overseeing counter-narcotics operations in the country’s National Guard, and it refers to the sun-shaped insignia worn on generals’ epaulettes to denote their rank, a report by BBC noted.
Trump today claimed that Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country following explosions in Caracas.
After first offering a reward of up to $15 million in 2020 for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction, the US Department of State raised the amount to as much as $25 million on January 10, 2025. The reward was increased again on August 7, 2025, to up to $50 million.
Why did court charge Nicolas Maduro with narco-terrorism?
In March, 2020, a US federal court charged Venezuelan leader Maduro with drug trafficking, narco-terrorism and firearms offenses, alleging that he and 14 current or former Venezuelan officials had flooded the United States with cocaine, as per Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
According to Attorney General William Barr, the Maduro government assisted former members of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by allowing Venezuela to serve as a transit route for smuggling cocaine from Colombia into the United States.
“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities,” OCCRP quoted Barr as saying.
He added, “Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government.”
US strikes Venezuela
Several explosions were heard and low-flying aircraft passed over the Venezuelan capital, as Maduro’s government accused the United States of targeting both civilian and military facilities. The authorities described the incident as an “imperialist attack” and called on citizens to take to the streets.
The attack lasted less than 30 minutes, with at least seven explosions prompting people to rush into the streets while others turned to social media to share what they saw and heard. It was unclear whether there were any deaths or injuries on either side.
Meanwhile, with Maduro’s location unknown, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would assume power under Venezuelan law, though there was no confirmation that this had occurred, according to AP. She did, however, release a statement following the strike. “We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodríguez stated, adding, "We demand proof of life.”
