Overview

• According to NBC, Pentagon planners have prepared options for drone strikes on traffickers and drug labs inside Venezuela that could begin within weeks, though no order has been given.
• Washington has deployed at least eight warships, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, and F-35 fighters in Puerto Rico with thousands of troops for a stated counternarcotics mission.
• U.S. forces say they have destroyed multiple suspected smuggling boats in the Caribbean, with limited public evidence provided and officials reporting drugs recovered after one strike.
• Venezuela staged nationwide drills, expanded militia activities, and condemned what it calls an illegal threat at the U.N., as Nicolás Maduro said U.S. “threats” fuel his resolve.
• Cuba said it will not fight the United States over Venezuela and will confine support to political and diplomatic backing, while reports describe indirect U.S.–Venezuela contacts via Middle East intermediaries.