Overview

• The Pentagon informed key committees this week that the president determined the U.S. is in a non-international armed conflict with designated terrorist cartels, providing the legal basis for recent sea attacks.
• U.S. forces carried out three to four strikes on suspected trafficking boats in September, leaving at least 17 dead, with at least two vessels reported as departing from Venezuela.
• Washington has surged eight warships, a nuclear attack submarine, about 4,500 personnel and F-35s staged to Puerto Rico as part of the Caribbean deployment.
• Venezuela signed a state-of-emergency decree for external commotion, reported detecting five U.S. combat aircraft near its coasts and warned it could order a national mobilization if attacked.
• Legal scholars and some lawmakers question the wartime framing and lack of a specific congressional authorization, as NGOs highlight Venezuela’s internal repression with 838 political prisoners reported by Foro Penal.