Overview
- President Donald Trump told reporters there was a major explosion at a dock area along a shore where boats allegedly load drugs, but he refused to identify who conducted the strike, where it occurred, or whether there were casualties.
- Media outlets citing people familiar with the matter reported the CIA carried out a drone strike on a Venezuelan port facility tied to the Tren de Aragua gang, with no one present at the time, but these accounts have not been officially confirmed.
- The Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command referred questions to the White House, which offered no details, and Venezuela’s government has not publicly commented.
- Separately, U.S. Southern Command announced a new strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific that killed two, bringing publicly known totals to 30 maritime strikes and at least 107 deaths since early September.
- Trump previously acknowledged authorizing CIA operations in Venezuela, and the pressure campaign also includes a large regional military deployment and a blockade targeting sanctioned oil tankers, drawing legal and human-rights scrutiny over the strikes’ justification.