Overview

• Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino announced coastal drone flights and naval patrols, including larger vessels operating in Venezuelan territorial waters and the Gulf of Venezuela.
• Three U.S. guided-missile destroyers with about 4,000 sailors and Marines are in the southern Caribbean, and a cruiser plus a fast-attack submarine were reported en route by AFP citing a U.S. source.
• Caracas ordered roughly 15,000 personnel to border states and reported dismantling shipyards intended to build semisubmersibles and boats for drug trafficking.
• Venezuela petitioned the United Nations to demand an immediate halt to the U.S. deployment, calling it a threat to regional peace and objecting to the reported presence of a nuclear-powered submarine.
• The U.S. designated the Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization and doubled its reward for Nicolás Maduro to $50 million, while independent analysts say a U.S. invasion appears unlikely.