Overview
- US Navy says the USS Gerald R. Ford has arrived in the Caribbean to join regional forces targeting criminal networks under Operation Southern Spear.
- Southcom reports a Saturday strike on a suspected drug boat in the eastern Pacific that killed three, with media counts now at 21 attacks and up to 83 deaths since September.
- The State Department announced plans to designate the alleged Cártel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization effective November 24, even as experts question whether it operates as a single hierarchy.
- President Donald Trump confirmed authorizing covert CIA activity in Venezuela and suggested possible talks with Nicolás Maduro without providing details.
- Venezuela calls the U.S. naval presence a provocation, the UN urges restraint over lethal at-sea actions, and authorities in the Dominican Republic—coordinating with U.S. agencies—seized nearly 500 kilograms of cocaine.