Global & US Headlines
U.S. Terror-Lists Venezuela’s ‘Cartel de los Soles’ and Masses Carrier Group Off Coast
Washington on 24 Nov 2025 branded the nebulous Cartel de los Soles a Foreign Terrorist Organization and, within days, sailed the USS Gerald Ford with 15,000 troops to Venezuelan waters while President Trump warned airlines the country’s airspace was “closed.”
Focusing Facts
- FTO designation for Cartel de los Soles took legal effect 24 Nov 2025, expanding criminal penalties for any “material support” under 18 U.S.C. §2339B.
- Carrier Strike Group led by USS Gerald Ford plus ~15,000 personnel deployed, the heaviest U.S. build-up in the Caribbean since Operation Just Cause (Panama, Dec 1989).
- In a 29 Nov 2025 Truth Social post, Trump unilaterally told “ALL airlines” to avoid Venezuelan airspace, prompting major carriers to suspend routes despite no U.S. jurisdiction over foreign skies.
Context
Washington’s move echoes the 1989 narco-rationale used to oust Manuel Noriega—then labelled a “narcoterrorist”—before Operation Just Cause toppled him within weeks. Like earlier expansions of the terror label after 9/11 and the 2003 Iraq WMD narrative, criminal threats are being recast as security threats to unlock extraterritorial tools: asset freezes, military interdiction, even potential regime change. Over a longer arc that begins with the 1823 Monroe Doctrine and the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary, U.S. policy has oscillated between economic leverage and armed intervention to police its hemisphere; this designation signals a shift back toward hard power after years of sanctions-only pressure on Caracas. Whether the world buys the “narco-terror” frame matters: sustained multilateral buy-in is vital for drug-route disruption, yet core allies have stayed silent, hinting at a legitimacy gap that could, on a century horizon, weaken U.S. normative authority in Latin America even if Maduro eventually falls.
Perspectives
Mainstream Western outlets
e.g., BBC, Yahoo — Report the U.S. military build-up and terrorist designation largely through Washington’s claim that it is a counternarcotics mission targeting the Maduro-linked Cartel de los Soles, explaining the extra powers the label confers. Coverage leans on U.S. official statements, offers limited evidence for the alleged drug shipments and may downplay alternative motives such as oil interests or regime-change aims mentioned by other sources.
Global South news outlets critical of the U.S.
e.g., The Namibian, MyJoyOnline — Characterise Trump’s order to ‘close’ Venezuelan airspace as an illegal, “colonialist threat” and frame the U.S. troop deployment as unjustified aggression intended to topple Maduro rather than fight drugs. Heavily amplify Venezuelan government statements and anti-imperialist rhetoric while giving scant attention to documented corruption or trafficking accusations against Caracas’ security elites.
Policy & analytical commentary outlets
e.g., The Conversation, CNC3 — Question whether the loosely connected ‘Cartel de los Soles’ meets any real definition of a terrorist group and warn that applying counter-terror tactics to corruption networks could backfire or mask political objectives. Academic and regional security analysts may understate the cartel’s criminal reach and focus on critiquing U.S. strategy, reflecting scepticism toward Washington’s motives and preference for multilateral, non-military solutions.