The European Parliament urged the EU to add Venezuela’s so-called Cartel de los Soles and several Colombian armed groups to the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations, a move that heightens transatlantic pressure on Caracas and deepens Brussels’ involvement in security debates tied to Colombia’s recent wave of political violence.
Lawmakers approved a resolution identified as RC10-0366/2025 by 355 votes to 173, saying they were “deeply concerned” by the consolidation of transnational criminal networks operating along the Colombia-Venezuela border. The text said those corridors have become conduits for drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering, and accused some Venezuelan officials of complicity in facilitating those networks.
“The Cartel of the Suns has been linked to narcoterrorism and to supporting armed groups inside and outside Colombia,” the motion reads, noting that the United States and several Latin American governments have already designated the group as a terrorist organization and that Washington has publicly accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of ties to the network.
The EU’s resolution asks to declare Colombian armed groups as terrorists
The resolution also asks the EU’s executive and member states to consider listing Colombia’s Clan del Golfo and FARC dissident factions, citing their roles in attacks, massacres, and the displacement of civilians, and linking the rise in violence to the June assassination of Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay. European lawmakers said the wave of political violence shows the security threat is spilling beyond Colombia’s borders.
European Commission foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas showed solidarity with Bogota, saying the EU would step up police and economic cooperation and offer to send an electoral observation mission for Colombia’s upcoming vote, while stressing that the bloc’s backing for the country’s 2016 peace process must remain a priority. “The success of Colombia’s peace process continues to be the EU’s main priority,” Kallas said in a plenary debate.
Parliament wants the EU to better support Colombia’s peace process.
MEPs are demanding an investigation into terrorist attacks in the country, including the assassination of senator and pre-presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay.
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— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) September 11, 2025
Supporters of the motion cast the measure as a response to a deteriorating security environment. Gabriel Mato, a center-right lawmaker who backed the resolution, said the Uribe Turbay killing “was not an isolated act” and blamed Maduro’s alleged alliance with narco networks for allowing dissident groups to find sanctuary across the border. Socialist and left-wing members counseled caution, however. Spanish socialist MEP Leyre Pajin warned against politicizing the issue for electoral ends, and Anthony Smith of the European Left urged lawmakers to address the root causes of violence, such as poverty and exclusion.
The EU’s resolution shows closer alignment with the US by the bloc
The move marks a closer alignment with recent actions by the United States and some Latin American governments, which have taken steps to brand Venezuelan criminal networks as terrorist players. But legal and diplomatic hurdles remain as the European Parliament can recommend listings, but formal designation of terrorist organizations in Colombia falls in the EU’s council of member states, which must weigh evidence and legal criteria before adding groups to the bloc’s blacklist.
The Venezuelan government rejected the allegations. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the Cartel of the Suns an invention and accused U.S. authorities and their allies of political manipulation. Caracas has denied links between senior officials and organized crime.
Analysts say any formal EU listing would raise sanctions risks, complicate diplomatic relations with Caracas, and could have implications for regional cooperation on security. For Colombia, European support may yield increased law-enforcement aid and political backing as authorities probe the killing of Uribe Turbay and confront a resurgence of armed violence ahead of next year’s presidential election.