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The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, one of the most prominent spokespersons for the Havana regime, stated this Monday that the so-called Cartel de los Soles —a criminal organization linked to the high military command of Venezuela, according to investigations and international reports— is an "invention of the United States government."
In a message posted on his X account, Rodríguez accused Washington and its Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, of fabricating this designation for geopolitical purposes.
“The Cartel of the Suns is an invention of the U.S. government and its Secretary of State, intended to justify violent actions to forcibly overthrow the government of Venezuela and seize that brother country's oil,” he wrote.
Accuses Washington of "gunboat diplomacy."
The Cuban Foreign Minister characterized the designation of the alleged cartel as a "fraudulent, arbitrary, and unilateral" action, asserting that it is a "fetish invented by U.S. intelligence agencies."
In his publication, Rodríguez argued that this narrative seeks to "justify military aggression against Latin America and the Caribbean and to return to gunboat diplomacy," an expression that the Cuban regime frequently uses to denounce what it views as American interventionism.
The context: tensions with Venezuela
Bruno Rodríguez's statements come at a time when the United States enforces severe sanctions against Nicolás Maduro's regime and has repeatedly highlighted the involvement of high-ranking Venezuelan officials in drug trafficking, corruption, and organized crime.
The term Cártel de los Soles has been used for over a decade to refer to alleged criminal operations within the Venezuelan Armed Forces, but Havana insists that it is a political construct aimed at delegitimizing Maduro's government, one of its primary international allies.
The "cap on the bottle"
The United States Government officially designated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and several high-ranking officials of his regime as members of an international terrorist organization by including the Cartel de los Soles in the Department of State's list.
The notification was made official on November 24th in the Federal Register. This measure provides "new tools" to Washington to expand its military campaign in the Caribbean, where the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, is leading Operation Southern Lance.
The U.S. fleet, with over 15,000 soldiers and F-35 fighters, has already destroyed a dozen drug boats in recent airstrikes.
Donald Trump has not confirmed imminent actions, but sources cited by Reuters claim that the second military phase will begin soon, possibly with covert missions in Venezuela.
The State Department accuses Maduro of leading the Cartel of the Suns, a network of military personnel and officials linked to drug trafficking. The designation blocks his assets and international transactions and could pave the way for more aggressive operations.
Washington maintains that its goal is to combat drug trafficking, but in Caracas, there are fears that this is the prelude to an offensive to overthrow the chavista leader.
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