U.S. Officially Designates Cartel de los Soles As Terrorist Organization, Potentially Paving Way For Military Strikes

The Trump administration officially designated the Cartel de los Soles, which it accuses Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials of leading, potentially paving the way for military strikes in the country.

The designation was published in the Federal Register on Monday and officializes the announcement made by the State Department the week prior.

"Based upon a review of the Administrative Record assembled in this matter, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I have concluded that there is a sufficient factual basis to find that the relevant circumstances described in section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended, exist with respect to: Cartel de los Soles (also known as Cartel of the Suns)," reads a passage of the publication.

"Therefore, I hereby designate the aforementioned organization and its respective aliases as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the INA," Rubio added.

The designation is the latest escalation by the Trump administration against the Venezuelan regime. On Friday, the U.S. issued a NOTAM advisory over a "potentially hazardous situation" near Venezuela's main airport, Maiquetia, due to the "worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around" the country.

"Threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight, the arrival, and departure phases of flight, and/or airports and aircraft on the ground," the advisory adds. Several airlines have cancelled flights to and from Venezuela during the weekend as a result.

Moreover, President Donald Trump said late last week that he will speak with Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro in the "not too distant future" and will say "something very specific" to him.

Maduro has repeatedly called for dialogue with Trump, but is showing defiance at the same time. On Wednesday he said "heavy weaponry and missiles" had been deployed in a key part of the country. He added that the deployment is part of a "comprehensive defense plan" and fortifies the corridor between Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira.

He showed the area in a map during a televised address, noting that the plan detailed how the regime intends to defend the population from external threats "street by street, community by community, weapon by weapon, weapons system by weapons system."

In another passage of the address, Maduro added that an "arsenal of weapons for the militiamen and militiawomen is already in place." He claimed that over 8 million people enrolled in the militia during a drive in August after the U.S. began its military deployment in the area.