Overview
- Speaking from Mar-a-Lago in a Thanksgiving message to U.S. forces, Trump said ground actions to stop drug flows linked to Venezuela would begin "very soon."
- He asserted that about 85% of traffickers are being intercepted at sea and provided no specifics on the location, scope, or legal basis for the planned land operations.
- Since early September, the Pentagon has conducted more than 20 strikes against alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with media tallies reporting over 70–80 deaths.
- U.N. human-rights chief Volker Türk has condemned the campaign as involving extrajudicial attacks that violate international human-rights law.
- Caracas rejected the U.S. allegations as false, with Nicolás Maduro urging preparedness to defend the country as Washington sustains a major naval presence, designates the Cártel de los Soles a terrorist organization, and Trump signals he could still speak with Maduro.