Overview

• Venezuela carried out the second day of the 'Caribe Soberano 200' exercises around La Orchila, deploying 12 ships, 22 aircraft and about 2,300 service members, including Sukhoi-30 jets armed with Russian Kh-31 anti-ship missiles.
• Maduro said units will deploy to neighborhoods on Saturday, Sept. 20, to instruct volunteers in firearms handling, describing it as the first time barracks take weapons training directly into communities.
• The National Assembly unanimously approved a Treaty of Strategic Partnership and Cooperation with Russia to expand political and economic ties.
• U.S. authorities highlighted counter-narcotics operations by posting Coast Guard boarding footage and reporting 34 tonnes of cocaine seized and 59 suspects detained since August, alongside continued deployments of F-35s to Puerto Rico, warships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
• China and Cuba voiced support for Venezuela and criticized U.S. actions, as Caracas advanced a disputed claim that a U.S. destroyer harassed a tuna fishing boat inside waters it considers its exclusive economic zone.