Overview
- The State Department confirmed the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation, expanding Washington’s sanctions and legal tools.
- Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry rejected the label as nonexistent and a pretext for intervention, and Nicolás Maduro delivered a defiant message on state television.
- Axios reported that President Trump intends to hold a phone call with Nicolás Maduro, with no date set and planning still under discussion.
- The FAA urged commercial flights to use caution over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean after heightened military activity, and several airlines paused or rerouted services per media reports.
- U.S. military presence in the Caribbean has increased since the summer, with press accounts describing a more forceful phase in the pressure campaign against Maduro’s government.