On the contrary, the President of the United States reaffirmed to Maduro his political decision to end the drug cartels operating under the protection of the Miraflores Palace. Additionally, Trump established that, along with Maduro, the main figures of the regime who benefited from illegal businesses and set up a repressive system that systematically violates human rights must leave Venezuela. In his conversation, Trump did not propose a negotiation table or a roadmap to allow the Venezuelan dictator to buy time against the military cordon deployed by the Pentagon. This statement comes as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Venezuela with a significant military deployment in the Caribbean, which includes the world's largest aircraft carrier. Through his Truth social media account, the leader addressed a message to all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers: "We ask you to consider that the airspace over Venezuela and its surroundings will remain completely closed." Over the past weekend, Trump held a telephone conversation with dictator Nicolás Maduro to warn him that the United States would multiply military actions if he does not leave Caracas in the short term. The Venezuelan dictatorship rejects these accusations and maintains that there is no public evidence linking it to drug trafficking networks. The relationship between Trump and Maduro is tense. The new status authorizes additional pressure on allies, banks, companies, and individuals who have ties to the Venezuelan regime or to cartel leaders. While the FTO legislation does not mention armed attacks, this change can serve as a justification for future surgical operations on infrastructures or assets linked to the cartel outside urban areas. Trump's statement came at a time of maximum U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. The Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio, participated in the conversation. The post by Donald J. Trump. According to information obtained by the Argentine News Agency, the inclusion of Rubio in the contact with Maduro implies that the Republican administration has already discarded alternative tactics with the populist regime that were proposed in other power centers in the White House as a negotiation path to initiate the Venezuelan transition. The campaign seeks to financially suffocate the Caracas regime, which already suffers from hyperinflation and restrictions on placing its oil on the international market. On Saturday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that Venezuela's airspace should be considered "completely closed." Hours after the telephone conversation with Maduro, the State Department confirmed that the Cartel of the Suns was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The decision to include the Cartel of the Suns in the FTO list opened the door to new political, economic, and military pressure measures in the region. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, defined the decision as a step that provides "a whole range of legal alternatives." The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is leading an operation accompanied by more than a dozen ships, combat aircraft, and 12,000 personnel, with the aim of combating drug trafficking organizations. Since September, U.S. forces have sunk at least 21 suspicious vessels, and more than 80 deaths have been reported. This list, managed by the Department of State, gives Washington broad legal powers, for example, to impose sanctions, freeze assets, and prosecute any person or entity that collaborates with an included organization. The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, confirmed that the group is "responsible for terrorist violence throughout the hemisphere," and reiterated that Washington considers Maduro himself as the leader of the criminal structure. Thank you for your attention!
