US military has new options to pursue group tied to Venezuela’s Maduro — Hegseth
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says designating Cartel de los Soles as “Foreign Terrorist Organisation” creates “new options” for the US against Venezuela.
President Donald Trump’s decision to designate an alleged drug cartel that the US links to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a terrorist group provides the Pentagon with a range of new options, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would designate the Cartel de los Soles (or Cartel of the Suns) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), which makes it a crime for anyone in the US to provide material support to the group.
Hegseth spoke with One America News and, in excerpts released on Thursday, was quoted as saying the designation “brings a whole bunch of new options to the United States.”
Hegseth claimed Maduro is “not a legitimately elected leader of Venezuela” and repeated accusations that Maduro is involved in drug trafficking.
Maduro has denied such involvement.
It is unclear when the interview took place, but it will air on Thursday.
US officials have accused Cartel de los Soles of working with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Washington previously designated as FTO, to send illegal narcotics to the US.
The Trump administration has alleged that Maduro leads Cartel de los Soles, which Maduro denies. Washington in August doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
