Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) is a name used for networks of Venezuelan military officers and senior officials accused of profiting from large‑scale cocaine trafficking and related crimes. The U.S. government now treats it as a narco‑terrorist organization based in Venezuela and says it is led by Nicolás Maduro and other top regime figures, though many researchers describe it less as a single cartel and more as a loose system of state corruption linked to the security forces.
According to the unsealed indictment in the Southern District of New York, Nicolás Maduro is charged with four main federal crimes: • Narco‑terrorism conspiracy • Cocaine importation conspiracy (moving tons of cocaine into the United States) • Possession of machine guns and destructive devices • Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. These charges were originally brought in a 2020 case and re‑filed/expanded in the new indictment that also names his wife and other associates.
Rubio is referring to the U.S. using its domestic criminal and civil‑forfeiture laws to treat ships and cargo as property that can be "arrested" by a court. The basic process is:
By calling the Maduro raid a "law enforcement function," Rubio is framing it as an operation to execute criminal arrest and seizure warrants, led legally by the Department of Justice, with the military only supporting (for example, by disabling air defenses or providing transport). In U.S. law, that is different from launching a traditional war or large‑scale combat operation: under the War Powers Resolution, sustained hostilities or a "war in the constitutional sense" generally require Congress’s authorization or must be reported and limited in duration. Internationally, any use of armed force on another state’s territory normally counts as a use of force under the U.N. Charter, but governments often argue such short, targeted actions against indicted individuals or designated terrorist/narco‑terrorist groups are justified as self‑defense or law enforcement rather than an "invasion" aimed at seizing territory or overthrowing a government.
Delcy Rodríguez is a longtime Chavista politician and lawyer who has held several top posts, including foreign minister, president of the pro‑government Constituent Assembly, and (since 2018) vice president. After Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces in January 2026, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal ordered her to assume the role of acting president, and foreign media describe her as the de facto leader of the government, even as she publicly insists Maduro remains the country’s only president. María Corina Machado is an opposition politician and activist, founder and national coordinator of the liberal party Vente Venezuela and a former member of the National Assembly (2011–2014). She has been one of the most prominent opponents of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, won the opposition’s 2023 presidential primary, and is regarded by many Venezuelan opposition supporters as their legitimate democratic leader; in 2025 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her pro‑democracy work.
Under the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, large or sustained combat operations that amount to "war" generally require Congress to declare war or pass a specific authorization for the use of military force. Even for smaller deployments, if U.S. forces are introduced into "hostilities" or situations where hostilities are imminent, the president must notify Congress within 48 hours and end the operation after 60 days (plus a 30‑day withdrawal period) unless Congress authorizes it. Officials describing the Maduro raid as a "trigger‑based operation" mean it was a pre‑planned mission that would only go forward once certain conditions or "triggers" were met—such as Maduro’s location, the status of air defenses, weather, and other intelligence. Because it was short‑duration, highly conditional, and framed as executing existing criminal warrants rather than starting open‑ended combat, Rubio and others argue it did not require prior, formal congressional approval in the same way a broader military campaign would.
Yes. When Rubio talks about the "Department of War" in this context he is referring to the U.S. defense establishment centered on the Pentagon. Historically, the cabinet‑level War Department was renamed and restructured into the Department of Defense in 1947–49, and that remains the formal legal name. However, in September 2025 President Trump signed Executive Order 14347 authorizing the Pentagon to use "Department of War" as a secondary, non‑statutory title. So the term is now used politically and in some branding, but under U.S. law the department is still officially the Department of Defense.