Justice Department prosecutors, working under Pam Bondi, recently had to acknowledge that a key narrative used by President Trump to justify the removal of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was inaccurate. For months, Trump had asserted that Maduro was the head of a drug cartel known as the Cartel de los Soles. However, during a New York court appearance on Monday, prosecutors clarified that this organization does not actually exist. While they still accused Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking, they distanced themselves from the claim that the Cartel de los Soles is a real cartel.

The New York Times reports that the updated indictment now depicts Maduro as operating a ‘patronage system’ and fostering a ‘culture of corruption’ enriched by drug profits. This narrative stems from a 2020 grand jury indictment crafted by the DOJ. Last year, Trump’s administration, through the State and Treasury Departments, categorized the Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist group in an attempt to pressure Maduro’s regime. Experts specializing in Latin America, however, have clarified that the term Cartel de los Soles was coined by Venezuelan media in the 1990s to describe officials who accepted drug money as bribes.

The revised indictment against Maduro acknowledges this distinction. Previously, the indictment mentioned the Cartel de los Soles 32 times, labeling Maduro as its leader. Now, it only alleges that Maduro perpetuated a patronage system that began under his predecessor and mentor, President Hugo Chávez. Throughout the past months, Trump has repeatedly labeled Maduro as a drug cartel leader and accused his regime of smuggling fentanyl into the United States. The Pentagon has also engaged in aggressive operations targeting suspected drug vessels from Venezuela, resulting in over 80 fatalities. Trump’s campaign to remove Maduro culminated last weekend when special operation forces successfully captured the former dictator and his wife from their palace in a nighttime raid.

Following the DOJ’ concession regarding Cartel de los Soles, Elizabeth Dickinson, the deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group, told the New York Times that the new indictment was ‘exactly accurate to reality.’ ‘I think the new indictment gets it right, but the designations are still far from reality,’ she said. ‘Designations don’t have to be proved in court, and that’s the difference. Clearly, they knew they could not prove it in court.’ Although Pam Bondi’s DOJ prosecutors have walked back their claims regarding the fake cartel, Marco Rubio continued referring to Cartel de los Soles as an actual organization during a Sunday interview on ‘Meet the Press.’

‘We will continue to reserve the right to take strikes against drug boats that are bringing drugs toward the United States that are being operated by transnational criminal organizations including the Cartel de los Soles,’ Rubio claimed. ‘Of course, their leader, the leader of that cartel, is now in U.S. custody and facing U.S. justice in the Southern District of New York. And that’s Nicolás Maduro.’ The Drug Enforcement Administration has never mentioned Cartel de los Soles in their annual National Drug Threat Assessment.