WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s decision to designate an alleged drug cartel that the U.S. links to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization provides the Pentagon with a range of new options, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would designate the Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization, which makes it a crime for anyone in the U.S. to provide material support to the group.

Hegseth spoke with One America News and, in excerpts released on Thursday, was quoted as saying the designation “brings a whole bunch of new options to the United States.”

Hegseth said Maduro is “not a legitimately elected leader of Venezuela” and repeated accusations that Maduro is involved i

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