Overview

• Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the measure would activate immediately upon any external aggression, citing potential U.S. military action near Venezuelan waters.
• The decree empowers the presidency to mobilize the armed forces, take military control of public services and the oil and basic industries, activate security plans, and close land, sea, and air borders.
• Rights advocates, including Acceso a la Justicia, warned the framework could restrict or suspend certain constitutional guarantees depending on how it is applied.
• An unnamed government source told AFP the document had not yet been formally signed and was presented as ready, creating a discrepancy with the public announcement.
• The move follows a stepped‑up U.S. deployment in the Caribbean tied to counternarcotics operations, including at least three interdicted vessels with reported fatalities, eight warships, a nuclear submarine, and F‑35B aircraft in Puerto Rico.