The U.S. is offering $50 million for information that will lead to Maduro’s arrest—the biggest reward of its kind—and has labeled him “one of the world’s largest drug traffickers.” In recent weeks, the U.S. has deployed a naval task force to the Caribbean that includes some 4,500 Marines and sailors, destroyers, an attack submarine, and 10 F-35 stealth fighters. In 2020, at the end of Trump’s first term, the Justice Department indicted Maduro and high-ranking Venezuelan officials and military officers, accusing them of leading Cártel de Los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”), a “narco-terrorism” network that works with Colombian guerrilla groups and Mexican cartels to ship cocaine to the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hinted as much, saying last month that “Maduro is not a government or political regime” but a member of a “terrorist organization and organized-crime organization.” A source close to the administration told NBC News that officials hope the boat strikes will lead cartel bosses inside and outside Venezuela to turn on Maduro, so they can return to business as normal.
Author: theweekonlineeditors@futurenet.com (The Week US) , The Week US
Published at: 2025-10-06 20:51:57
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