In the renewed drug trafficking indictment against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the US Department of Justice abandoned the repeated claim about the existence of the Cartel of the Suns, to which it linked the Chavista leader. The new document refers to the alleged group as a “patronage system.” A change that could be key to a case that shakes the world.
First modification: 01/06/2026 - 18:37 Last modification: 01/06/2026 - 19:35
Is a crucial point in the long-standing accusation against Nicolás Maduro for drug trafficking in question?
Since 2020, the year to which the United States formal accusation against the Chavista leader for alleged drug trafficking dates back, the Department of Justice has pointed out the existence of the so-called Cartel of the Suns as an alleged criminal group dedicated to this scourge. And with him, he has linked Maduro, as the leader of the alleged criminal organization.
But in the renewed accusation document, published by the US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, last Saturday, January 3, hours after the capture of the Chavista leader, in the midst of the accusations there is an element that stands out: the Department of Justice abandons the reference to the Cartel of the Suns as a criminal group.
In its 25 pages, it also does not refer to it as a “terrorist organization,” as the State Department officially designated it on November 24.
Instead, it refers to the Cartel of the Suns as a “system of patronage” and “culture of corruption,” as seen in the indictment document.
"Nicolás Maduro Moros, the accused - like former President Chávez before him - participates in, perpetuates and protects a culture of corruption in which powerful Venezuelan elites enrich themselves through drug trafficking and the protection of their drug trafficking partners. The profits from this illegal activity flow to corrupt civil, military and intelligence officials, who operate in a clientelistic system run by those at the top, known as the Cartel of the Suns, in reference to the sun insignia displayed on the uniforms of the Venezuelan military high command,” the indictment document states.
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In an interview with the newspaper 'The New York Times', Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America of the International Crisis Group, highlighted that the description of the Cartel de los Soles in the new accusation is much more "true to reality", compared to the initial accusation from 2020.
"I think the new accusation is correct, but the designations are still very far from reality (...) The designations do not have to be proven in court and that is the difference. Clearly, they knew they could not prove it in court," Dickinson declared.
Read alsoCocaine, corruption and machine guns: a look at the charges against Nicolás Maduro
Alleged links to drug cartels and armed groups
Although the new accusation does not mention the Cartel of the Suns as a tangible structure or a terrorist organization, it does target Maduro with serious charges such as "narcoterrorism", which refers to his alleged links with recognized criminal groups such as the Mexican 'Zetas Cartel', 'Sinaloa Cartel' and 'Gulf Cartel'; the Colombian guerrillas ELN and the extinct FARC, of which dissident groups remain and the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, the latter designated as a “terrorist organization” by the Trump Administration in February 2025.
“MADURO MOROS, DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDÓN and RAMÓN RODRÍGUEZ CHACÍN, the defendants, have associated with narcoterrorists from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ("FARC"), the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas and the Tren de Aragua (TdA), including TdA leader Héctor Rustenford Guerrero Flores, alias "Niño Guerrero", the accused. In summary, MADURO MOROS and his accomplices have partnered for decades with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narcoterrorists in the world and have relied on corrupt officials throughout the region to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States," states the document released by prosecutor Pam Bondi.
According to the accusation, for years Maduro took advantage of his position to benefit himself and his family in a mix of corruption and drug trafficking.
“This cycle of corruption based on drug trafficking fills the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families, while benefiting violent narcoterrorists who operate with impunity on Venezuelan soil and who help produce, protect and transport tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment details.
This is a similar accusation to the one that weighed on the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who faced 45 years in prison in the United States, but who, paradoxically, was pardoned by Donald Trump last December, while increasing pressure on Maduro for alleged drug trafficking.
Read alsoMaduro and his wife plead not guilty to all charges; hearing ends and will continue on March 17
Venezuelan prosecutor asks US judge to recognize Maduro's immunity
Venezuela's Attorney General, Tarek Saab, asked this Tuesday the US judge handling the drug trafficking case against Maduro to recognize the lack of US jurisdiction and Maduro's immunity from prosecution as head of state of the Latin American country.
Immunity is one of the chips that Maduro's defense is trying to rescue. However, and although he did not hold a formal position as president, history remembers that a similar movement in favor of the overthrown “strong man of Panama”, Manuel Noriega – also captured and taken from his country in a bloody US operation in 1989 – was unsuccessful, since justice did not recognize him as a legitimate leader.
In fact, that would be a route that the Department of Justice would also take during the trial, as indicated in its accusation document to dismantle that probable defense argument and not recognize Maduro's immunity. The report repeatedly refers to Chavista as an “illegitimate” leader.
Read also "We do not expect troops on the ground (...) This is not a regime change": Mike Johnson on Venezuela
With local media and accusation document
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