Overview
- The Pentagon has positioned the USS Gerald R. Ford, more than a dozen warships and roughly 15,000 personnel in the Caribbean, with F‑35 fighters based in Puerto Rico.
- Defense chief Pete Hegseth announced Operation Southern Spear as a counter‑narcotics campaign targeting what he called narcoterrorists in the Western Hemisphere.
- Politico reports that options under review include offering Nicolás Maduro and close aides safe passage into exile or seeking his arrest and prosecution in the United States.
- Planning discussions also cover sequencing sanctions relief, potential World Bank and IMF roles in reconstruction, and deploying private security firms to protect a new leadership.
- Caracas has showcased a mass mobilization as Maduro accuses Washington of fabricating a war, while experts warn a forced ouster could trigger military rule, criminal violence or civil conflict.