Overview
- President Donald Trump said U.S. forces struck a suspected drug transshipment site in a Venezuelan port, describing a large explosion.
- He gave no location, casualty figures or operational details, and it remains unclear whether the strike was carried out by the military or the CIA.
- AFP reports the attack could be the first onshore strike in a months-long campaign previously focused on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
- U.S. actions have included repeated boat strikes that AFP says have killed more than 100 people, forward deployment of major naval and air assets, and recent control of several oil tankers near Venezuela.
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro rejects the U.S. justification as counter-narcotics and accuses Washington of seeking to force a change in power.