
Venezuelan officials issued strong condemnations this week regarding the expanded US military presence in the Caribbean, accusing the United States of violating international law through attacks on civilian vessels and attempting to destabilize the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Uruguay’s Economy Minister Gabriel Oddone said Tuesday in Madrid that he was strongly confident that the long-delayed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) will be signed shortly. Additionally, he voiced his concerns over the escalating military tensions in the Caribbean.

Just hours after designating the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization of which Nicolás Maduro would be its leader, the United States forces conducted one of its closest flyovers of Venezuelan territory since the start of its military deployment in the southern Caribbean.

The United States escalated its confrontation with Caracas on Monday, officially designating Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and senior members of his government as part of an international terrorist organization. The move places the so-called Cartel of the Suns on the US State Department’s list of foreign terrorist groups — alongside Al-Qaeda and ISIS — and provides “new tools” for Washington’s expanding military campaign in the Caribbean.

Seven international airlines suspended their connections with Venezuela over the weekend after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a security warning concerning potential risks in the South American country's airspace.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded on Monday to recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the possibility of talks, insisting that any future dialogue must be conducted “face to face.”

US President Donald Trump admitted late Sunday that he might be open to talks with Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, signaling a possible diplomatic path alongside growing military pressure in the Caribbean. We may have talks with Maduro, and we will see what the outcome is, Trump said. They want to talk, he added.

Three suspected drug traffickers were killed in a new attack by United States forces in the Eastern Pacific in international waters, it was announced in Washington. The three individuals were described as narco-terrorists, and the mission was said to have been carried out under Operation Southern Spear, the US Southern Command (Southcom) confirmed.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the formal launch of Operation Southern Spear on Thursday, a major military offensive led by the Southern Command (Southcom) aimed at “eliminating narco-terrorists from our hemisphere.”

The USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, reinforcing the US military presence in Latin America for what the Pentagon claims is an operation to combat drug trafficking.