Overview
- The U.S. Navy confirms the USS Gerald R. Ford and escorts including USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan and USS Winston Churchill are now in the region with more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft.
- The Pentagon says the mission supports President Trump's directive to target transnational criminal groups and so‑called narcoterrorism, as part of a broader buildup featuring F‑35s, additional warships and at least one nuclear‑powered submarine.
- U.S. forces have carried out roughly 17–20 strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, leaving at least 76 dead in actions criticized by the UN as extrajudicial executions.
- Venezuela has approved a new Law for the Integral Defense Command, conducted drills mobilizing 200,000 troops, and claims more than eight million militia enrollments, with the law pending publication to take effect.
- Regional fallout is growing as Colombia suspends intelligence sharing with Washington over the ongoing attacks and Trump acknowledges authorizing covert CIA operations in Venezuela.