Overview
- It is the first known U.S. operation inside Venezuela in a campaign previously focused on destroying suspected narco‑boats and seizing sanctioned tankers in international waters.
- Reporting by The New York Times and CNN attributes the strike to a CIA drone against a site linked to Tren de Aragua, with sources saying the facility was empty and no casualties occurred, and the timing remains unclear.
- CNN said U.S. Special Operations provided intelligence support, a claim a spokeswoman for those forces disputed, as the Pentagon maintains MQ‑9 Reapers in the region and the CIA has standing authorization for covert actions in Venezuela.
- Venezuela has not confirmed a strike; Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello decried months of external “harassment,” while the armed forces separately reported destroying an unregistered aircraft used for illegal operations in Apure state.
- Regional reactions broadened, with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro asserting the blast hit a cocaine facility in Maracaibo linked to the ELN and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum calling for a more active UN role.