Rubio Slams ‘Narco-Terrorist’ Maduro as Venezuela holds municipal elections

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, insists on Sunday the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro while the South American country organizes municipal elections to fill hundreds of mayor and thousands of seats of the council.

Municipal competitions one day occur before the one-year birthday of the presidential election of Venezuela, which was largely condemned by the United States and other international observers as illegitimate. The Trump administration, on the other hand, has increased pressure against Maduro in recent days, when the secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent accused the head of a foreign state on Friday to be the head of an entity that helps terrorism against the United States

“A year since the dictator Nicolás Maduro challenged the will of the Venezuelan people by declaring themselves without foundation, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support for the restoration by Venezuela of democratic and justice order,” said Rubio in a statement on Sunday. “Maduro is not the president of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government.”

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Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro, parade in a military vehicle during independence day celebrations in Caracas on July 5, 2025. (Juan Barto / AFP via Getty Images)

“Maduro is the chief of the organization designated narco-terrorist cartel in Los Soles, and he is responsible for trafficking drugs in the United States and Europe,” continued Rubio. “Maduro, currently charged by our nation, has corrupted Venezuela institutions to help the Cartel Narco traffic program in the United States.”

The Ministry of Justice charged Maduro and 14 other former and current Venezuelan officials of Narco-Terrorism, Corruption, Drug Traffic and other criminal charges in March 2020. At the start of this year, 10 days before President Donald Trump returned to the Bureau, the State Department increased his reward for information leading to the capture of Maduro, going from 15 million Dollars up to $ 25 million.

“For years, Maduro and his friends have manipulated the Venezuela electoral system to maintain their illegitimate grip on power,” added Rubio on Sunday. “By planning the municipal elections on the eve of the anniversary of the presidential election stolen on July 28, the regime aims again to deploy the army and the police to suppress the will of the Venezuelan people.”

“The United States will continue to work with our partners to hold responsible for the corrupt, criminal and illegitimate Maduro regime. Those who steal the elections and use force to grasp the power of the interests of national security in America,” said Rubio.

Maduro became the Venezuelan president in 2013, but the United States has not recognized his presidency since 2019. The United States and other countries have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of the Venezuelan elections in July 2024, citing general fraud.

A parent of persons detained during demonstrations following the presidential elections disputed on July 28, 2024, participated in a vigil demanding their release before the prosecutor’s office in Caracas on July 16, 2025. (Federico Parra / AFP via Getty Images)

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Friday, the Treasury Department sanctioned the Los cartel, also known as Cartel of the Suns, as a “specially designated global terrorist”. The United States alleys that the Los Soles Cartel is led by Maduro and other high-ranking venezuelan individuals in its regime “who corrupted government institutions in Venezuela, including army parties, the intelligence apparatus, the legislature and the judiciary, to help the effects of the United States traffic card”.

The United States claimed that the group based in Venezuela provides material support to Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa cartel. The Trump administration ranked Tren from Aragua and the Sinaloa cartel as foreign terrorist organizations in February.

According to the Treasury Department, the name Cartel of Los Soles is derived from the insignia of the sun often portrayed on the uniforms of Venezuelan military officials.

The mayor of the municipality of Chacao, Gustavo Duque, speaks to the supporters at the start of the electoral campaign for the municipal elections of Caracas on July 11, 2025. The elections to mayors and councilors will take place on July 27. (Juan Barto / AFP via Getty Images)

The cartel “supports Tren of Aragua by achieving its objective of using the flow of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States”, according to the Treasury department.

Bessent said on Friday that the new action “exposes the illegitimate facilitation of the Maduro regime of Narco-Terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de Los Soles.”

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“The Treasury Department will continue to run on President Trump’s commitment to put America first by reducing violent organizations, notably Tren of Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel and their facilitators, such as the Los Soles cartel,” he added.