Joint Chiefs head makes first official visit to post-Maduro Venezuela

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his first official trip to Venezuela this week, five months after the high-risk U.S. military operation that removed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro , from power.

Caine held bilateral discussions with senior leaders of the interim government and with U.S. embassy personnel. During those meetings, he underscored the importance of Venezuelan stability, broader security across the Western Hemisphere and the military’s commitment to implementing Trump’s “three-phase plan,” Joe Holstead, a spokesman for Caine, said in a statement.

The plan focuses on avoiding chaos, bolstering an economic recovery and — eventually — facilitating a transition to democracy.

A key pillar of the effort has been restoring Venezuela’s oil industry, which Trump previously characterized as a “total bust.”

All of that changed with Operation Absolute Resolve. The sprawling military raid — which involved more than 150 aircraft — culminated in Delta Force commandos descending on a heavily fortified compound and capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The pair were later flown to New York, where they each face criminal charges.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, continues to maintain a robust presence in the region, with the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group sailing into the Caribbean in May.

Since September, the Pentagon has carried out at least 62 strikes in the waters off South America, killing nearly 200 people whom the Trump administration says were involved in drug trafficking, according to data compiled by Military Times. Many legal experts dispute the legality of those operations.

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

美国参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军本周对委内瑞拉进行了首次正式访问。此前五个月，美国发动了高风险的军事行动，将该国强人领导人尼古拉斯·马杜罗赶下了台。

凯恩与委内瑞拉临时政府高级领导人和美国大使馆人员举行了双边会谈。凯恩的发言人乔·霍尔斯特德在一份声明中表示，在这些会谈中，凯恩强调了委内瑞拉稳定、整个西半球安全以及军方致力于执行特朗普“三阶段计划”的重要性。

该计划的重点是避免混乱，促进经济复苏，并最终推动向民主过渡。

这项努力的一个关键支柱是恢复委内瑞拉的石油工业，特朗普此前曾将其描述为“彻底失败”。

这一切都随着“绝对决心行动”而改变。这场规模庞大的军事行动——动用了超过150架飞机——最终由三角洲特种部队突袭了一处戒备森严的营地，抓获了马杜罗及其妻子西莉亚·弗洛雷斯。两人随后被押送至纽约，他们将在那里面临刑事指控。

与此同时，美国军方继续在该地区保持强大的存在，尼米兹号航母打击群于 5 月驶入加勒比海。

据《军事时报》汇编的数据显示，自9月以来，五角大楼已在南美洲附近海域至少进行了62次空袭，造成近20​​0人死亡。特朗普政府称这些人参与了毒品走私活动。但许多法律专家对这些行动的合法性提出质疑。

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。