On February 23, 2026, at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander General Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean Sea, killing three male narco-terrorists, according to an official SOUTHCOM statement posted at approximately 6:00 PM UTC during the 1 hour 29 minute reporting window from 5:46 PM to 7:16 PM UTC. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting known narco-trafficking routes and engaged in operations. No U.S. military forces were harmed. In a separate development over the past hour, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez announced the appointment of Oliver Blanco as Vice Minister for Europe and North America, describing him as a young professional in international relations with prior opposition party activism but firm commitment to Venezuela, per her X post. RodrĂguez stated Venezuela will benefit from his professionalism. This U.S. strike follows Venezuela's request earlier on February 23 at approximately 5:00 PM UTC to the United Nations in New York demanding the release of President NicolĂĄs Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores from reported U.S. detention, as previously reported by AlbertoRodNews on X. No immediate responses from U.S. or UN officials to the UN request or the strike were noted in this period.
