Overview

• A confidential notice to key committees says designated cartels are terrorist non-state armed groups and labels suspected smugglers as unlawful combatants.
• The memo serves as the administration’s rationale for three September strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean that killed 17 people, at least two from Venezuela.
• Pentagon officials did not provide lawmakers a public list of which organizations are covered by the designation, prompting bipartisan frustration over transparency.
• The White House says the president acted under the law of armed conflict to protect Americans, while legal scholars and rights groups call the justification legally dubious.
• Regional tensions have escalated as U.S. forces remain deployed in the southern Caribbean and Venezuela reports U.S. fighter activity near its coast, with Trump also saying he is considering action against cartels coming by land.