The United States has designated the Cartel de los Soles (Spanish for Cartel of the Suns) - a group it alleges is headed by Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, and senior figures in his government - as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Labelling an organisation as a terrorist group gives US law enforcement and military agencies broader powers to target and dismantle it.
In recent months, the US has been ramping up pressure on Maduro, saying his government is illegitimate following last year's election, which was widely dismissed as rigged. The designation gives it another way to turn up the heat.
But questions have been raised as to whether Cartel de los Soles actually exists and Venezuela's foreign ministry has "categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejected" the designation, which it describes as a "new and ridiculous lie".
Not surprisingly, Venezuela's interior and justice minister, Diosdado Cabello, has long called it an "invention".
