Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-maduro-cartel-soles-us-drugs-terrorist-f778922c04b4f514092bd29b91e77358
The U.S. has officially designated Venezuela’s so‑called Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), tying it to President Nicolás Maduro’s regime and accusing the network of trafficking large volumes of cocaine into the U.S. and supporting terrorist violence. The U.S. framed the move as part of an intensified counter‑drug campaign that employs the same legal framework used post‑9/11 for terrorism, thereby blurring the line between a “war on drugs” and a “war on terror.” Analysts caution that the Cartel de los Soles is not a traditional cartel with defined membership or hierarchy, but rather a loosely networked structure embedded within the Venezuelan military and government. The Venezuelan government rejected the designation as a fabrication aimed at justifying U.S. intervention and regime change. Meanwhile, U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific targeting alleged drug‑trafficking boats have already intensified under this policy, though questions remain about the legal basis and evidence for these strikes.
I agree with the US’s fight against cartels in Latin America and the use of drugs within the US, but I believe we aren’t fully considering all possible avenues on how to do this, and there are probably better ways than labeling an informal cartel as a terrorist organization. I’m curious to see how the US will act going forward, and how they will stop the cartel when members of the Venezuelan government are involved. Additionally, labeling the cartel as a terrorist organization opens up the possibility of the US military getting involved in the war on drugs. This reminds me of the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act of 1981 that allowed the military to provide law enforcement with access to intelligence, bases, weapons, and research for drug prohibition. This policy was from the Reagan administration’s efforts to stop drug use, which were largely regarded as costly and ineffective. I wonder how the US will respond differently to this issue than in the past, and how the ruling of the cartel as a terror organization will affect that.
With members of the Venezuelan government involved with the cartel, I could see them labeling their country as a victim to US interference, rallying support throughout the nation. Then I could see them seeking relationships with countries like China, Russia, and other Latin America countries diplomatically to counter the US efforts and try to counter either using soft power or hard power, aiming to hurt the US. The US government has, and I could see continuing, providing incentives to MNCs like Chevron to stop manufacturing in Latin America and Venezuela to bring them back to the US and to stop them from providing jobs to US, causing the Venezuelan government to cooperate with the US against cartels.
The US sees the drug cartels in Venezuela as a threat on our national security and the general well-being of citizens. Originally, the issue with the drug cartels was spurring an inter-state conflict as the US wanted Venezuela to take a more active approach to combating drug cartels, but now the issue has evolved into also the issue of terrorist organization under the new label for drug cartels given by the US. Additionally, labeling the drug cartel as a terrorist organization was a unilateral approach to combatting the use of drugs in the US and transportation of these substances to our country. It’s unilateral in the way that only the US is labeling them as such and no other country is helping with our efforts.