Overview
- The U.S. Navy confirmed the carrier strike group transited the Anegada Passage, adding fighters and guided‑missile destroyers to nearly a dozen ships now assigned to Operation Lanza del Sur.
- U.S. Southern Command reported a November 15 strike in the eastern Pacific that destroyed a vessel and killed three men it labeled “narcoterrorists,” part of roughly 20 attacks and about 80 reported deaths since September.
- Washington has scheduled joint drills with Trinidad and Tobago this week, a step Venezuelan authorities denounce as threatening to regional stability.
- President Nicolás Maduro ordered permanent vigils and mobilization in eastern states and labeled the U.S.–Trinidad and Tobago maneuvers “irresponsible.”
- Opposition leader María Corina Machado urged officials to “lower their arms” and back a transition, as Iran and human rights bodies voiced concern over the U.S. campaign’s legality and risks to sovereignty.