US will label supposed Venezuelan drug cartel ‘headed by Maduro’ as terrorist organization

Experts believe decision is designed to pressure Venezuela's leader into stepping down with threat of military force

• Is US preparing to attack Venezuela and how has Maduro regime responded?

The US has said it will designate a putative Venezuelan drug cartel allegedly led by Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization, as the Trump administration sent more mixed messages over its crusade against Venezuela's authoritarian leader.

The move to target the already proscribed group, the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), was announced by Marco Rubio on Sunday. Headed by the illegitimate Nicolas Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," the US secretary of state tweeted, generating excitement among hardline adversaries of Maduro who interpreted the announcement as proof Washington was preparing to intensify its push to force the South American dictator from power.