Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Saturday the country is conducting military exercises to protect its coast against any potential “covert operations” as the United States expands its regional military presence.The move comes a day after the Pentagon ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group into the region, an escalation of the ongoing campaign of deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed at least 43 people. “We are conducting an exercise that began 72 hours ago, a coastal defense exercise… to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats but also to protect ourselves from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations that aim to destabilize the country internally,” Padrino said. Tensions are mounting in the region with US President Donald Trump saying he has authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean country.Since September 2, US forces have bombed 10 alleged drug boats with eight of the attacks occurring in the Caribbean. The Republican leader accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel, which Maduro denies.Venezuelan state television showed images of military personnel deployed in nine coastal states and a member of Maduro’s civilian militia carrying a Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. “CIA is present not only in Venezuela but everywhere in the world,” Padrino said Friday. “They may deploy countless CIA-affiliated units in covert operations from any part of the nation, but any attempt will fail.” Since August, Washington has deployed a fleet of eight US Navy ships, 10 F-35 warplanes and a nuclear-powered submarine for anti-drug operations, but Caracas maintains these maneuvers mask a plan to overthrow the Venezuelan government.The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford will enter the region to join the fleet. The warship USS Gravely is also traveling to Trinidad and Tobago Sunday for five days of joint exercises.

Hurricane Melissa was cutting a deadly path in the Caribbean on Saturday night, with rapid intensification expected over the weekend as it took a worryingly slow course toward Jamaica and the island of Hispaniola, forecasters said.As a Category 1 storm packing winds of 100 miles (155 kilometers) per hour, Melissa was already blamed for three deaths in Haiti earlier in the week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides to the impoverished nation.In the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, a 79-year-old man was found dead after being swept away in a stream, local officials said Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was missing.Melissa was expected to set off “life-threatening and catastrophic” flooding and landslides in Jamaica, as well as in southern portions of Hispaniola, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.”Rapid intensification is forecast to continue over the next day or so, and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane” Sunday, NHC officials said, adding “it is expected to still be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica early next week.”On Saturday evening Melissa was about 130 miles southeast of the Jamaican capital Kingston, and about 260 miles southwest of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince. The hurricane was moving at crawl of 3 mph.Melissa could batter both countries for multiple days before heading north and threatening eastern Cuba.In the Dominican Republic, Angelita Francisco fled her Santo Domingo neighborhood after her house was inundated by floodwater, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash bobbed around the home.”You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,” the 66-year-old homemaker told AFP through tears.The country’s emergency operations center said nine of 31 provinces were on red alert Saturday due to risk of flash floods, rising rivers, and landslides.Melissa could bring total rainfall of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) in portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, the NHC said, with isolated areas receiving as much as 40 inches.Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday urged residents of flood-prone areas to heed warnings and be prepared to evacuate.”If you live in an area that was flooded before, expect that it will flood again,” he said.Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in early July 2024 — an abnormally strong storm for the time of year.Beryl brought downpours and heavy winds to Jamaica as it moved past off the island’s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.