The United States has designated Venezuela’s so-called Cartel de los Soles a “foreign terrorist organization” , marking the latest escalation in US-Venezuela tensions.

Washington alleges Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads the organisation, which, the US says, is involved in widespread corruption and drug trafficking. Maduro denies the accusations amid growing fears of potential US military action in the region, and his government has called the cartel an “invention”.

The US designation comes after continued US interceptions of boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and the recent arrival of the Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Caribbean this month. The US says the military build-up is targeting drug trafficking, but Caracas accuses Washington of using it as a pret

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