Overview
- U.S. Southern Command confirmed a Nov. 10 “lethal kinetic” strike on a suspected smuggling boat that killed four people, raising reported deaths since August to nearly 80.
- After high-level Pentagon briefings that included Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, President Trump said he had made up his mind on Venezuela but withheld details.
- The operation includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, more than a dozen warships, around 15,000 U.S. personnel, and F-35s staged from Puerto Rico under Joint Task Force Southern Spear.
- Venezuela condemned the U.S. campaign, mobilized roughly 123,000 troops and militia, staged exercises, and signaled defensive preparations as Nicolás Maduro appealed for peace.
- The UN human-rights chief labeled the boat attacks extrajudicial; debate in the U.S. contrasts the Pentagon-led strikes with record Coast Guard cocaine seizures and argues over legality and effectiveness.