Overview
- Reports from the Wall Street Journal and the Miami Herald say the administration has identified targets inside Venezuela, including ports, airports, naval facilities and airstrips controlled by the military.
- Officials cited by the outlets say the objective is to pressure Nicolás Maduro and disrupt alleged Cartel de los Soles operations rather than directly target the Venezuelan leader.
- UN human rights chief Volker Türk denounced recent U.S. strikes on suspected narco-vessels that killed about 61–62 people as potential extrajudicial executions and demanded swift, independent investigations.
- The United States has reinforced forces in the southern Caribbean, including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group and destroyers near Trinidad and Tobago, heightening regional tension.
- Responses span diplomacy and warnings, with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva offering to mediate, opposition figure María Corina Machado voicing skepticism, and experts and some U.S. lawmakers cautioning about escalation, legality and presidential authority.