Overview

• Three Aegis destroyers and an amphibious ready group are on station with additional assets, including the cruiser USS Lake Erie and the submarine USS Newport News, expected next week, bringing total personnel to more than 4,000 according to U.S. and media reports.
• The Pentagon has withheld precise locations, saying the destroyers are not near Venezuela’s coast; vessels were last tracked near Curaçao and departed Norfolk with surveillance aircraft supporting regional patrols.
• Venezuela mobilized 15,000 troops to the Colombian border, urged militia enlistment, and asked U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres to press the U.S. to halt what it calls hostile actions, citing Tlatelolco treaty concerns over a nuclear‑capable submarine.
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered roughly 25,000 troops to the Catatumbo frontier and referenced coordination with Caracas to target criminal groups and narcotrafficking.
• The White House said it is prepared to use any element of U.S. power against narcotrafficking, as Washington elevates pressure with terrorist designations and a $50 million reward for Nicolás Maduro, while officials and analysts say an invasion is unlikely.