Overview

• The council convened Friday in New York at Venezuela’s request, with China and Russia supporting the appeal.
• The United States has positioned missile destroyers, combat aircraft, elite troops and a nuclear submarine in the Caribbean and conducted strikes that destroyed four small boats, leaving about 21 people dead.
• President Nicolás Maduro ordered permanent military exercises and reserve mobilization and warned that Venezuela would respond if attacked.
• President Donald Trump has cast the actions as counter‑narcotics, with a Pentagon memo described as providing legal grounding for operations near Venezuelan waters.
• Brazilian officials say President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva plans to caution Trump that direct U.S. interference to oust Maduro could trigger a humanitarian crisis, while a New York Times report says Maduro privately offered broad economic concessions to deter a U.S. intervention.