Overview
- The Pentagon has positioned the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group in the Caribbean, bringing roughly 15,000 U.S. personnel to the region as Operation Southern Spear tallies about 21 strikes and more than 80 reported deaths since September.
- The State Department says it intends to designate the Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization effective November 24, alleging links to senior Venezuelan officials including Nicolás Maduro.
- Trump said he would be OK with U.S. strikes inside Mexico and suggested targeting cocaine facilities in Colombia, prompting Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum to dismiss the idea as not happening.
- Maduro said he is ready for face-to-face talks after Trump indicated he would probably speak with him, while Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister said the U.S. has not asked to use its territory and that the country will not be a staging ground for attacks.
- Human-rights organizations condemn the lethal boat strikes as extrajudicial killings and note the U.S. has provided no public evidence on those targeted, as the White House asserts wartime authority against transnational narcotics groups.