Overview

• An NBC News report, citing four anonymous sources, says U.S. planners have developed options for drone strikes on individuals and drug labs inside Venezuela, but President Trump has not authorized action.
• The United States has surged forces into the southern Caribbean, including at least eight warships, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, F-35 jets in Puerto Rico and several thousand personnel under a counternarcotics mission.
• U.S. forces have destroyed multiple boats it said carried narcotics from Venezuela, resulting in deaths, though public evidence has been limited except for one case where Dominican officials reported drugs found after an attack.
• Venezuelan officials reject the U.S. rationale as a pretext for intervention, with Foreign Minister Yván Gil calling the threat “absolutely illegal” at the U.N. and Nicolás Maduro urging nationwide readiness while touting “incalculable energy” from U.S. “threats.”
• Regional responses diverge as Barbados warns the Caribbean must not be treated as “collateral damage,” Trinidad and Tobago backs the U.S. presence, and reports describe discreet U.S.–Venezuela contacts through Middle Eastern intermediaries.