The recent designation of the Cartel de Los Soles as a global terrorist organization by the United States marks a significant step in the fight against transnational organized crime, as it has evolved into a complex and multifaceted threat.
The ever-changing nature of criminal organizations has allowed them to extend their goals beyond mere profit-seeking to infiltrating governments and politics. Thus, a sustained political will backed by all state resources will be crucial in facing this multidimensional phenomenon that poses a threat to national security and democratic integrity.
The actions of these organizations—particularly the Cartel de Los Soles—are part of the “endless war” being waged against Western institutions, which can only be overcome with ongoing political commitment. Moreover, this must be accompanied by coherent efforts and collaboration with allies to dismantle these criminal entities that have transcended borders and traditional structures, operating as shadow governments with profound geopolitical and national security implications.
Designation as a Global Terrorist Organization
On July 25, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Cartel de los Soles as a specially designated global terrorist organization (SDGT).
This decision refers to the fact that this criminal group, led by Nicolás Maduro Moros and other high-ranking officials from his regime, provides material support to foreign terrorist organizations that threaten the peace and security of the United States, specifically Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa cartel.
Furthermore, the Treasury Department noted that the Cartel de los Soles has corrupted Venezuelan government institutions—including the military, intelligence services, legislative, and judicial branches—to facilitate its drug trafficking activities into the United States.
The U.S. government claims that the Cartel de los Soles supports Tren de Aragua in its goal of using the flow of illegal drugs as a weapon against the United States (1).
The Cartel de los Soles and the War Against Transnational Organized Crime
The dismantling of the Cartel de los Soles and the war against transnational organized crime is fundamentally rooted in this measure by the U.S. executive. Hence, the designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a global terrorist organization is not a capricious or isolated act but is framed within a broader strategy by the U.S. government.
This measure brings with it a series of inherent challenges in combating transnational organized crime and the nature of the endless war. It is based on an Executive Order from January 20, 2025, which allows for the cataloging of entities involved in organized transnational crime as global terrorist organizations.
This classification as global terrorist organizations requires these groups to already exhibit the nature of transnational organized crime, implying a vast accumulation of evidence from U.S. investigative, police, and prosecutorial agencies.
Classification Criteria
Two primary criteria for terrorist designation are mentioned:
- The involvement in narcotics and participation in criminal activities that provide logistical financial support to the enemies and adversaries of the United States and its allies.
- The infiltration and integration into governmental levels in different countries, where they pose a political threat.
Activated Legal Tools
The designation as a global terrorist organization enables a broader legal and operational arsenal for the U.S. executive, including the Immigration and Nationality Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Moreover, Executive Order 13224, signed immediately after September 11, 2001, creates the framework for targeting any type of property that may be necessary to neutralize the capabilities of a terrorist organization.
Unlike slow and frustrating judicial processes, the designation allows the U.S. government to utilize all means necessary—including intelligence agencies and armed forces—to contain, neutralize, or eliminate the threat.
Power and Adaptation of Transnational Organized Crime
Cartels and transnational organized crime are highly powerful entities, making their dismantling a multidimensional challenge, even for the strongest democracies.
They are decentralized and transnational networks, complicating their eradication. They operate in multiple markets, including the United States, Spain, Europe, and Latin America, where they generate high revenues that can even surpass those from industries like oil.
These criminal groups have strategic alliances with state and non-state actors, corrupt governments, and insurgent groups. This instrumentalization of the state turns it into a mere tool for their activities and operations.
Cartels and transnational organized crime have rapidly evolved, mutating quickly, efficiently, and effectively, thus surpassing the capabilities of the state. They can adapt swiftly to pressures, diffusing their financial structure across multiple markets.
Transnational criminal organizations are transitioning from entities solely dedicated to profit through illicit activities to becoming true shadow governments.
Bolivia (through the Confederation of Cocaleros in the Tropic of Cochabamba), Venezuela (the Cartel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua), and the regime in Havana exemplify this, creating perfect hybrids that can:
- Operate within the realm of the illicit.
- Generate social mobilization and destabilize governments.
- Execute violent armed actions.
- Articulate as political options, and through corruption, manipulate the governments of failed states.
Transnational criminal organizations can form corporations, invest in legitimate businesses, and symbiotically integrate with other corporate structures or countries. They could influence levels of party politics in the U.S. and the Kingdom of Spain, where political organizations, NGOs, and businesses have become recipients of funds from illicit activities.
The Endless War and Its Geopolitical Implications
The fight against transnational organized crime is conceptualized as a permanent war, an endless war utilizing multiple tools, with profound implications for national security and geopolitics.
Criminal organizations are no longer just seeking profit but aspire to effectively penetrate American territory. Tren de Aragua, for example, had sophisticated tactical capabilities to carry out violent and armed actions on U.S. soil.
Additionally, the objective of flooding the United States with narcotics to erode its social fabric, dilute government credibility, and weaken its institutions represents a security threat that must be addressed and overcome.
Geopolitical Dimension
Venezuela: Nicolás Maduro Moros is regarded as the leader of a transnational organized crime organization designated as a global terrorist entity. The Cartel de los Soles, with Tren de Aragua as its armed wing, conducts illicit activities.
Mexico: A state deeply infiltrated by drug trafficking and largely controlled by transnational organized crime.
Colombia: Its role is crucial in this war, as a potential “loss” of Colombia would hinder the containment of violence in Central and South America, providing criminal organizations a space for production and operation.
Cuba: The involvement of Cuban intelligence agents in facilitating cocaine shipments linked to Russian intelligence demonstrates the interconnection between adversarial state actors and organized crime.
Dismantling as a Priority
The current U.S. government prioritizes combating, dismantling, and destroying organized crime and terrorism. However, this requires a sovereign political will and state decision, along with continuity over time, coherence in efforts, and directing all necessary resources toward that end.
Alvaro Uribe’s democratic security policy in Colombia serves as an example and proof that it is possible to defeat these organizations.
The Chavista regime and its allies seek to downplay the issue and aim to redirect the narrative elsewhere, using the mirror strategy to project guilt onto others. Chavismo wants to distract from or dilute the solid arguments presented by the U.S. government for the designation.
The world, especially the region and the United States, faces a global challenge as the current situation represents one of the greatest threats to the existence of Western Judeo-Christian civilization, as it involves more than just authoritarian regimes or isolated criminal organizations.
It is about the perfect hybrid that integrates into the political fabric of countries and facilitates the actions of intelligence agencies employed by terrorist groups and adversarial states against the United States and its allies.
Sources Consulted:
1) U.S. Department of State. “The Treasury Department sanctions a Venezuelan cartel led by Maduro.” July 25, 2025. Available at: https://www.state.gov/translations/spanish/el-departamento-del-tesoro-sanciona-a-un-cartel-venezolano-dirigido-por-maduro
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The U.S. Treasury designates the “Cartel de los Soles” as a global terrorist organization