US EditionDOJ Admits ‘Cartel of the Suns’ Cited by Trump to Justify Venezuela Action Does Not Exist
The Department of Justice removed most references to Cartel de los Soles, now describing it as a patronage system, after failing to prove it as a real cartel in court.
- The Department of Justice has admitted the 'Cartel de los Soles' does not exist as a cartel, as reported by the New York Times.
- A grand jury indictment drafted by the DOJ during Trump’s term alleged Maduro led the 'Cartel de los Soles', which the Trump administration later designated as a terrorist group last year.
- Experts and reporting note that the amended indictment describes 'Cartel de los Soles' as a patronage system, not a literal cartel, a term Latin American narcotics experts say is slang from the 1990s, not an organized group.
- The raid's aftermath included up to 80 deaths, Nicolás Maduro's capture by U.S. forces on Saturday, and his not guilty plea Monday in the Southern District of New York, while the United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the intervention as illegal on January 6, 2026.
- Policy analysts point out experts had warned months ago that 'Cartel de los Soles' was not a literal organization, as designations do not require court proof, raising questions about U.S. credibility and legal standards.
79 Articles
79 Articles
The U.S. Department of Justice has amended its indictment against Nicolas Maduro. So far, the U.S. has accused the Venezuelan president of being the head of the "Cartel de los Soles", a "criminal organization", which is no longer the case.
The Department of Justice has retracted a dubious statement about President Nicolás Maduro that Donald Trump’s government promoted last year to lay the foundations for his dismissal in Venezuela: accusing him of running a drug cartel called “Cártel de los Soles.” That statement goes back to Maduro’s accusation before a grand jury in 2020, drafted by the Department of Justice. In July 2025, the Department of the Treasury copied text from it and d…
It turns out Maduro isn’t a drug kingpin according to the DOJ, so why did the US kidnap him again?
It appears that the U.S. has backtracked on claims that Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro was leading a drug cartel known as the “Cartel de los Soles.” This comes after months of the Trump administration insisting that Maduro was at the head of the operation in Venezuela. As everybody knows now, the president of Venezuela and the first lady, Cilia Flores, were abducted by U.S. forces on January 3. Trump’s interference in the country’s affairs…
Despite transcended by U.S. media, Argentine executive officials justify that Washington continues to keep the group on its lists
The US Department of Justice has dropped a key and controversial charge that the Trump administration has used for years against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, namely that he is the head of a drug cartel known as the Cartel de los Soles. It appears that the cartel never really existed.
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