US adds Venezuelan ‘cartel’ to terror list as military threat rises
Move offers potential cover as Trump eyes expanded operations against Venezuela’s Maduro.
The United States is set to designating Venezuela’s “Cartel de los Soles” a foreign “terrorist” organisation (FTO).
President Donald Trump’s administration will add the “cartel”, which it asserts is linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to the list on Monday.
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However, the entity is not actually a cartel, but rather a common reference to military officers and officials involved in corruption and other illegal activities.
The move, which comes amid a huge military buildup in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela by the US, could offer legal cover to potential direct military action.
Trump is reportedly mulling the next step in his campaign against the South American country. A strike on Venezuelan territory would constitute a major escalation of the months-long US operation in the region, which has seen more than 80 people killed in strikes on boats accused of trafficking drugs.
UN officials and scholars of international law have said that the strikes are in clear violation of US and international law and amount to extrajudicial executions.
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