Overview
- The Pentagon informed Congress that the United States is engaged in a non‑international armed conflict with drug cartels, framing recent actions as lawful under the law of armed conflict.
- U.S. forces deployed warships and combat aircraft, including F‑35s in Puerto Rico, and have destroyed at least three to four boats, with officials reporting at least 17 fatalities.
- Venezuela condemned what it called an illegal incursion by U.S. fighter jets about 75 kilometers off its coast, calling it a provocation after reporting five combat aircraft approaching.
- Caracas has mobilized troops and reservists, conducted military exercises, and prepared a decree for an external state of emergency in response to the U.S. presence.
- Washington accuses President Nicolás Maduro of leading major trafficking operations and raised the reward for his arrest to $50 million, while jurists and rights advocates question the domestic and international legal basis for the strikes.