Overview
- President Donald Trump said he authorized CIA covert actions targeting Venezuela and is considering ground operations against drug networks.
- Venezuela expands military exercises and deployments on frontiers and coasts, activating civil‑military defense structures and reinforcing the Colombia border.
- Venezuelan officials lodged complaints to the UN secretary‑general and Security Council alleging extrajudicial killings at sea after at least five U.S.-attributed boat strikes left about 27 dead, with Trinidad and Tobago police probing possible national victims.
- U.S. forces showcase presence with B‑52 flights and special-operations helicopter training near Venezuelan waters, supported by roughly 10,000 personnel, eight warships and a submarine in the Caribbean.
- Miami Herald reports that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez explored a transition without Nicolás Maduro via Qatari intermediaries, a claim Rodríguez publicly denies as false.