Overview
- The Navy confirmed the Ford carrier strike group is now inside U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, after being redirected from the Mediterranean in late October.
- U.S. officials say the deployment is meant to expand detection and disruption of drug networks, following roughly 19–20 strikes on suspected smuggling vessels since September.
- Caracas announced a nationwide military mobilization and portrays the U.S. buildup as a regime-change threat, with President Nicolás Maduro warning of resistance if attacked.
- Legal and diplomatic scrutiny has grown, with rights experts questioning the strikes and a senior Western official reporting Britain paused intelligence sharing to avoid complicity.
- Washington has developed options that could include strikes inside Venezuela, though officials say no decision has been made and no targets on Venezuelan soil have been hit.