The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced plans to designate the criminal organization as an FTO. What are the legal, diplomatic, and doctrinal consequences of applying the terrorism label to a criminal structure with state links? Does it affect Venezuelans?
Since his confirmation as Secretary of State in January 2025, Marco Rubio has redefined the U.S. hemispheric security strategy. His latest announcement —designating the Cártel de los Soles, linked to the Venezuelan military leadership and Nicolás Maduro’s surroundings, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO)— highlights the Administration’s objectives under what has been called the Trump Doctrine for hemispheric security.
This designation is not just a political gesture: it is a state action with far-reaching legal and diplomatic consequences.
For the first time, Washington is applying its anti-terrorism legislation against a criminal network integrated into the apparatus of a sovereign government.
This transforms the conflict with Venezuela into a new type of confrontation: a global legal and financial war under the banner of combating state-sponsored terrorism.
From Desert Wars to the Caribbean: Redefining the Enemy
For two decades, the United States fought the “War on Terror” in the Middle East, opposing Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Hezbollah. Today, that doctrine is shifting to the American continent.
Rubio argues that hybrid criminal structures, where political power, drug trafficking, and state repression converge, pose a threat equivalent to global terrorism.
The Cártel de los Soles, made up of military officials and high-ranking Chavista officials, would be the first case of a state terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere.
Reports from the DEA, the Justice Department, and Southern Command support this view: Venezuela not only exports drugs but also operates as a logistics hub for transnational crime, with an active presence in the Caribbean, Central America, and West Africa.
The Legal Framework: Executive Power and Extraterritoriality
The designation of a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) is made under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), granting the Secretary of State direct authority to determine that a foreign entity “threatens U.S. security or its citizens.”
Rubio can act without Congressional approval, although he must notify the foreign relations and intelligence committees.
Furthermore, the Executive Order 13224—expanded after the 9/11 attacks and reinforced in 2025 with EO 14157—allows for sanctions against individuals, banks, and companies that provide material support to designated terrorist entities.
In practice, the Department of the Treasury and the OFAC can freeze assets, impose secondary sanctions, and block financial operations in any jurisdiction.
This extraterritorial authority means that officials, intermediaries, or companies connected to the Venezuelan regime would be subject to investigation, seizure, or prosecution in U.S. courts for “supporting terrorism.”
Direct Consequences for Venezuela
The inclusion of the Cártel de los Soles as an FTO equates to declaring that Venezuela acts as a state sponsor of terrorism, on the same level as Iran or North Korea.
This will trigger automatic sanctions on trade, financing, and international cooperation, as well as diplomatically isolating Maduro’s regime.
Washington might even invoke the doctrine of preemptive self-defense, authorizing intelligence operations or maritime interdiction in Caribbean waters under the pretext of “neutralizing terrorist threats.”
Pentagon sources confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford, with over 4,000 personnel, is already deployed in the region with orders to monitor drug trafficking routes linked to Venezuelan officials.
The economic impact will be immediate: European and Asian banks still handling transactions with PDVSA or the Central Bank of Venezuela will face risks of secondary sanctions.
Diplomatically, Caracas will be under complete isolation.
Legal Framework
On November 17, 2025, the U.S. Department of State officially announced its intention to designate the Cártel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), effective from November 24, 2025.
This measure is a further step in a direct escalation against the Nicolás Maduro regime, accused of facilitating narcoterrorism and collaborating with transnational organized crime networks.
Legal Basis for the Designation
Main Authority:
This action is based on Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, as amended.
This section grants the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, the authority to designate foreign organizations as FTOs that meet specific criteria:
Participating in terrorist activities that threaten the safety of U.S. nationals or national security.
Maintaining a terrorist capability or having planned, prepared, or attempted to carry out terrorist acts.
Being directed by individuals or groups that support or finance terrorism.
Legal Effect:
The designation comes into effect once published in the Federal Register, expected on November 24, 2025.
Before that date, the State Department formally notifies the organization and allows a brief period for opposition, although these designations rarely get overturned.
This is not the first action against the group.
On July 25, 2025, the Department of the Treasury had already designated the Cártel de los Soles under Executive Order 13224 (EO 13224) of 2001, focused on blocking properties and assets of individuals involved in terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
This previous measure complements the current one, which focuses on financial freezing and criminal classification.
Reasons for the Designation
According to the official announcement from the Department of State:
The Cártel de los Soles is based in Venezuela and is led by Nicolás Maduro and high-ranking officials of the illegitimate regime, who have corrupted military, judicial, and intelligence institutions.
It collaborates with other designated terrorist organizations, such as the Tren de Aragua and the Cártel de Sinaloa, to perpetrate violence and illegal trafficking in the western hemisphere.
It is responsible for drug trafficking to the United States and Europe, considered “narcoterrorism” that threatens national security.
According to Washington’s official stance, Maduro and his allies do not represent the legitimate government of Venezuela.
This designation elevates the group’s status from drug trafficking network to terrorist entity, enabling broader legal, financial, and military tools to dismantle its structure and international networks.
Legal Consequences of Designation as FTO
The designation entails a set of automatic and severe sanctions under U.S. law:
Prohibition of Material Support: any U.S. person or entity providing “material support or resources”—funds, training, weapons, or services—to the group faces penalties of up to 20 years in prison (Section 2339B, Title 18 of the U.S. Code).
Immigration Restrictions: members of the group are inadmissible to the U.S. and subject to deportation if found in U.S. territory.
Asset Freezing: all property and assets of the group under U.S. jurisdiction or control are blocked automatically (EO 13224 / OFAC).
Financial Sanctions: banks and international entities must reject transactions linked to the FTO and report them to the Treasury.
Extraterritorial Impact: the measure may extend through agreements with allies, facilitating extraditions, judicial cooperation, and multilateral blockades.
According to the statement from the State Department, the aim is to “deny resources, break financial structures, and protect U.S. national security” as part of a broader campaign against Venezuelan narcoterrorism.
Precedents that Pave the Way
The legal model is not new. In 2014, the designation of ISIS as an FTO allowed the U.S. to freeze assets, prosecute collaborators, and justify armed operations. Similar measures were taken with Hezbollah, recognizing its global financial structure.
In January 2025, Rubio—already as head of U.S. diplomacy—declared Ecuadorian gangs Los Choneros and Los Lobos as terrorists, initiating the deployment of drones and military assistance to Quito.
The next step is Venezuela: a state that, according to Washington, has institutionalized crime as a tool of power.
The Doctrinal Debate: Is State Terrorism Born?
Beyond politics, this measure introduces a conceptual challenge.
Traditionally, terrorism has been attributed to non-state actors.
The Venezuelan case presents the existence of a state turned into an instrument of organized crime, leading to the consolidation of a new operational concept: state terrorism.
This reinterpretation transforms the legal framework of anti-terrorism: it no longer depends on ideologies but on power structures that combine repression, drug trafficking, and systemic corruption.
Rubio has described this phenomenon as “the perfect fusion between a cartel and a totalitarian regime.”
Law as a Battlefield
If the designation is finalized on November 24, Venezuela will become the first modern state sanctioned under U.S. anti-terrorism legislation.
The concept of state terrorism will cease to be an academic term to become a legal, sanctionable, and operable figure.
The conflict will no longer be military or diplomatic: it will be legal, financial, and multilateral, battled in courts and banking systems.
And its outcome could redefine the legal power balance across the Western Hemisphere.