Overview
- President Donald Trump said he will speak with Nicolás Maduro “in the near future” and has “something very specific” to tell him, keeping diplomatic options open as military pressure grows.
- U.S. forces staged their largest show of force near Venezuela this week, including a B-52, an F/A-18E launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford, and reconnaissance flights described as a bomber strike demonstration to deter illicit trafficking.
- The FAA warned commercial aviators to exercise extreme caution over Venezuela’s Maiquetía flight region due to deteriorating security conditions and increased military activity in and around the country.
- The State Department’s designation of the so‑called Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization is slated for Monday, a move officials say expands sanctions and other tools but does not itself authorize military strikes.
- Caracas rejected reports of a negotiated exit for Maduro, inaugurated a tactical training center, escalated militia and defense preparations, denounced U.S. drills including activities in Trinidad and Tobago, and condemned deadly U.S. anti‑drug boat strikes linked by rights groups to possible extrajudicial killings.