WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has formally designated Venezuela’s Cartel de Los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, ramping up an ongoing pressure campaign on the South American country.
Rubio filed for the terrorism designation on Nov. 16, and the Federal Register posted the designation notice on Nov. 24.
Named after the sun insignias worn on the epaulettes of Venezuelan military generals, Cartel de Los Soles—or Cartel of the Suns—is an alleged criminal enterprise that the United States believes is grafted into the Venezuelan government, up to and including Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The designation comes as the U.S. military has massed forces in the Caribbean Sea since August and has conducted numerous lethal strikes on alleged drug vessels transiting the waterways near Latin America since September….