Senate plenary session approved a motion declaring the Cartel of the Suns a "transnational criminal and terrorist organization."

With 33 votes in favor and 20 against, the Senate plenary approved a proposal "politically declaring" the Cartel of the Suns a "transnational criminal and terrorist organization" that poses a threat to the security of the country and the region.

"It politically declares the so-called 'Cartel de los Soles' a transnational criminal organization linked to drug trafficking, money laundering, and the financing of terrorist groups, which constitutes a serious threat to the human rights of the inhabitants of Colombian territory, institutional stability, national security, constitutional order, and territorial integrity," stated the document filed by Paola Holguín, Paloma Valencia, and Jonathan Ferney Pulido Hernández, better known as Jota Pe Hernández.

The proposal sparked intense debate in the plenary session, as the document's conclusion called on the President of the Republic, in this case Gustavo Petro, to make a decision in that regard, which some congressmen considered an affront to the separation of powers.

“We ourselves appeal to the independence of public powers. We are independent, and so is the president. It's the same respect we demand from the president toward Congress, the same respect we must extend to the presidential inauguration,” said Senator Alejandro Chacón, who opposed the motion.

Guido Echeverri, of the En Marcha party, also rejected part of the proposal and warned of the importance of not overstepping the boundaries of the separation of powers. “We have two basic functions: to legislate and to politically control the government. In this case, we are referring to a terrorist group, it is said, that doesn't even operate in Colombia. We don't have the fundamental elements to conclude that it is a terrorist group because, to begin with, we don't know if it operates or exists in Colombia. We must be very cautious and act within our own jurisdiction,” he warned.

For his part, Carlos Fernando Motoa, of Cambio Radical, defended the text and asserted that it is Congress's responsibility to act in this specific case. "If the Executive Branch doesn't want to call the Maduro regime what it is, the Legislature does have that authority, it does have that power. I remind you that parliamentary diplomacy is included in our political charter," he stated.

The proposal was ultimately modified by the authors, and a vote was taken. It should be noted that this declaration is political and symbolic in nature; however, these decisions do not have binding legal effects, as can be issued by the judiciary or the government through decrees or resolutions.

The document was approved in a context marked by two crucial events: first, the decertification of Colombia by the United States in its fight against drugs; and second, the Trump administration's operation in Caribbean waters against vessels that, according to the White House, were involved in drug trafficking between Venezuela and the United States.

This episode came after weeks of tension over the military deployment near Venezuela, which Nicolás Maduro described as a threat of invasion, an unprecedented event in the region since the United States intervention in Panama in 1989.

It's worth mentioning that in July of this year, the U.S. Treasury Department declared the Cartel of the Suns a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization," linking it to the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Washington claims it is a drug trafficking network made up of high-ranking Venezuelan military officials, especially those from the Bolivarian National Guard and the Armed Forces, who control part of the cocaine routes that leave Colombia, pass through Venezuela, and reach Central America, the Caribbean, and ultimately North America.

In response, President Gustavo Petro has stated that "the Cartel of the Suns does not exist" and has described it as a "fictitious excuse by the extreme right to overthrow governments that do not obey them." He has also insisted that the main perpetrators of drug trafficking in the region are those he calls the "Drug Trafficking Junta."

CAMILO A. CASTILLOPolitical EditorX: (@camiloandres894)