Trump Says U.S. Hit Venezuelan Dock Used for Drug Loading as U.S. Confirms New Pacific Strike

Overview

• President Donald Trump stated that U.S. forces destroyed a coastal dock area in Venezuela used to load boats with drugs, calling it a major explosion and implying the site no longer exists.
• If verified, it would be the first known U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil during the current pressure campaign, though the Pentagon, CIA and the White House have provided no confirmation and Caracas has issued no report.
• Trump declined to say whether the operation was carried out by the U.S. military or the CIA after first alluding to the strike last week as the destruction of a “large installation.”
• U.S. Southern Command confirmed a separate lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific on December 29, reporting two dead and withholding the precise location.
• Officials say 31 vessels have been hit since September with at least 107 fatalities, as Washington couples the maritime campaign with expanded deployments, tanker restrictions and seizures, and increased bounties targeting Maduro’s network.