Overview

• President Nicolás Maduro ordered expanded operations against narcotics networks, with roughly 25,000 troops moving into coastal and border areas including Nueva Esparta, Sucre and Delta Amacuro.
• Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Venezuela will police trafficking routes on its own terms, casting the buildup as a sovereign security effort rather than a response to Washington.
• The U.S. maintains a large regional posture that includes three destroyers, Marine Expeditionary Unit vessels, at least one submarine and 10 F-35s repositioned to Puerto Rico.
• U.S. forces sank a Venezuelan-flagged boat on Sept. 2, killing 11; officials linked it to Tren de Aragua without providing public evidence as senior figures signaled more strikes could follow.
• Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the U.S. naval presence a source of tension, Iran pledged support to Caracas, and legal and congressional critics questioned the authority and legality of the U.S. actions.