The United States Department of Justice has substantially modified its accusation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, abandoning the assertion that the «Cartel of the Suns» is a real criminal organisation and redefining it as a «clientelist system» of corruption within the Venezuelan state apparatus.

The revision comes just days after the Venezuelan head of state and his wife, Cilia Flores, were kidnapped on the 3rd of January under circumstances that have not yet been fully clarified and which are denounced by dozens of countries – including Russia, China, Spain, Brazil and South Africa – as violating international law, and as unconstitutional by Democratic and Republican legislators in the US.

The new version of the indictment — presented before the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York — mentions the «Cartel of the Suns» only twice, compared to the 32 references in the original 2020 accusation.

The new version demolishes the term Cartel of the Suns which was cover in the major international media, which relied on alleged leaks from sources linked to United States intelligence services, particularly the DEA and CIA, channelled through journalists like Emili Blasco, correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC in the United States, and which fed headlines from all international agencies and multimedia.

Instead of describing it as a hierarchical organisation dedicated to drug trafficking, the current document defines the «cartel» as a «culture of corruption» comprised of high Venezuelan civilian and military officials, who «protect and promote drug trafficking», a definition far from a drug trafficking cartel with which the United States President, Donald Trump, justified an unprecedented military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, in an escalation that included a blockade on Venezuelan oil exports.

In the first hearing this Monday, Maduro declared himself a «prisoner of war», categorically rejected the charges brought against him and reiterated his condition as legitimate president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, denouncing that his detention constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.

The correction of the accusation gains greater relevance because in February 2025 the Treasury Department and later the State Department — under the Trump Administration — designated the «Cartel of the Suns» as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), a measure which lacks foundation in the technical reports of the very Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union, none of which mention the group in their annual assessments on drug trafficking.

The DEA, in its 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, details precisely the drug trafficking routes in the Americas, but does not include Venezuela as a main transit country nor mention the «Cartel of the Suns» in any section. The same occurs in the reports of the UN and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Even so, United States officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have publicly insisted on treating the «Cartel of the Suns» as a real organisation.

In an interview on the 5th of January on Meet the Press, Rubio affirmed that «its leader, the leader of that cartel, is now in United States custody», referring to Maduro.

The case is in charge of Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, aged 92, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and based in the Southern District of New York.

Known for his unconventional style and an attitude that some describe as «stubborn but principled», Hellerstein has gained notoriety for his judicial independence, even in the face of powerful governments.

In recent years, he has ruled against decisions of the Trump Administration, such as in cases related to Stormy Daniels and the Alien Enemies Act.

Lawyers who have litigated before him describe him as someone who «doesn’t give a damn what people think of him», who speeds up trials so as not to bore the jury and who does not hesitate to personally call prosecutors to clarify details.

(Taken from teleSUR)