Overview

• Three U.S. guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and USS Sampson — have been assigned to waters near Venezuela, with officials saying the deployment could run for months.
• U.S. defense officials say roughly 4,000 sailors and Marines, P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, additional warships and at least one attack submarine are part of the regional posture operating in international waters and airspace.
• Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the activation of about 4.5 million militia members nationwide, urging factory and rural units to organize and declaring the move a defensive response to U.S. “threats.”
• White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the administration is prepared to “use all its power” to stop drug flows, reiterating that it considers Maduro illegitimate and linked to narcotrafficking.
• The Justice Department recently doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, while Cuba and Venezuelan officials condemned the U.S. military presence as a sovereignty violation that endangers regional stability.