The U.S. conducted a limited January 2026 special operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro without establishing occupation or triggering broader conflict, an action U.S. officials explicitly distinguished from invasion or regime-change war. Subsequent U.S. efforts have focused on joint anti-cartel operations with host-nation consent in Ecuador and other countries, plus expanded maritime interdiction, rather than unilateral ground incursions. No additional Latin American states have faced U.S. military invasion through mid-August, and diplomatic pressure, sanctions enforcement, and coalition summits have remained the dominant tools. These developments align with trader consensus that the threshold for market resolution on an invasion has not been met and remains unlikely before year-end absent major escalation.