Overview

• U.S. officials confirm multiple Aegis destroyers and an amphibious assault group — including USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale — with roughly 4,000–4,500 personnel are operating in the southern Caribbean, with additional arrivals expected.
• Admiral Daryl Caudle said the deployment supports counter‑narcotics operations and provides options to national leaders, while the White House said it is prepared to use “any element” of U.S. power without announcing kinetic actions.
• Venezuela staged large‑scale exercises, urged militia enlistment and moved about 15,000 troops to the Colombian border, expanding patrols with drones and naval units in the Gulf of Venezuela and Lake Maracaibo.
• Caracas asked U.N. Secretary‑General António Guterres to press the United States to halt “hostile actions” and alleged the presence of a nuclear‑capable submarine that it says violates the Tlatelolco Treaty.
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered about 25,000 troops into the Catatumbo region, as both governments frame tighter border security as anti‑narcotics cooperation even as analysts warn of heightened risks of miscalculation.