David Martijn van Weel (born 4 August 1976) is a Dutch diplomat, civil servant, and former naval officer who serves as the Netherlands’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Asylum and Migration in the Schoof government. As foreign minister, he is responsible for directing Dutch foreign policy, representing the Netherlands internationally, and overseeing issues like relations with other countries and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy; as minister for asylum and migration, he also sets and implements national policy on asylum and migration.
Key current U.S. counternarcotics efforts in and around the Caribbean include:
• Operation Martillo (“Hammer”) – a long‑running U.S., European, and Western Hemisphere maritime operation led by Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF‑South) under U.S. Southern Command that targets drug‑smuggling routes in coastal waters along the Central American isthmus, including the Caribbean Sea. • SOUTHCOM’s “enhanced counternarcotics operations” – an expanded deployment of Navy ships, Coast Guard cutters, aircraft, and partner‑nation assets in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific to disrupt drug flows and degrade transnational criminal organizations, with partners such as the Netherlands specifically named as key contributors. • Use of Forward/Cooperative Security Locations in Aruba–Curaçao – U.S. Air Force “forward operating locations” on the Dutch islands of Curaçao and Aruba that host U.S. and partner aircraft to detect and monitor suspected air and maritime drug‑trafficking activity in the Caribbean and cue law‑enforcement interdictions.
In this context, a “proper, judicious transition of power in Venezuela” generally refers to moving from Nicolás Maduro’s rule to a new Venezuelan government through an orderly, legal, and internationally accepted process rather than through open‑ended foreign military control or chaotic power struggles. In practice, such a transition typically involves steps like: establishing an interim authority with broad Venezuelan support; restoring the country’s constitutional order and separation of powers; releasing political prisoners and allowing exiled opponents to return; organizing free, competitive elections under international observation; and ensuring security forces maintain order without widespread reprisals or human‑rights abuses. These elements mirror earlier U.S. and EU statements on a democratic transition in Venezuela, which stress that any change of power must respect Venezuelans’ right to choose their leaders and restore democracy.
Within the U.S. State Department, the Office of the Spokesperson is the unit that communicates U.S. foreign‑policy positions to the public and the press. It issues official statements, press releases, media notes, fact sheets, and schedules for the Secretary of State and other senior officials.
A “Readout” is one of those products: it is a short, official written summary of a high‑level diplomatic interaction—such as a phone call or meeting between the Secretary of State and a foreign leader—describing when it took place, who participated, and the main topics discussed. The readout is attributed to the Spokesperson or a deputy, signaling it is the U.S. government’s authorized description of the conversation.
Thomas “Tommy” Pigott is the U.S. State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson. In that role, he is one of the department’s top public communicators, helping lead the Office of the Spokesperson and issuing official statements and readouts on behalf of the Department and the Secretary of State. Pigott joined the State Department and the Trump–Vance administration in January 2025; previously he was Strategic Communications Director at the Republican National Committee and has nearly a decade of communications experience.
The United States and the Netherlands have long cooperated closely on both counternarcotics in the Caribbean and Venezuela‑related political issues:
• Counternarcotics: For about three decades, Dutch naval and coast‑guard forces in the Caribbean (operating from Dutch territories like Curaçao and Aruba) have worked with U.S. Southern Command and Joint Interagency Task Force South in joint maritime patrols and interdictions. This includes shared use of forward operating locations in Aruba–Curaçao and Dutch ships embarking U.S. Coast Guard law‑enforcement detachments to seize drug shipments. In 2024, the two countries marked 30 years of such cooperation in counter‑drug operations in the Caribbean. • Venezuela and regional security: Because Dutch Caribbean islands lie close to Venezuela, the Netherlands and the United States coordinate closely on regional stability, migration, and sanctions/diplomatic pressure aimed at encouraging a democratic resolution of Venezuela’s crisis. Dutch participation in JIATF‑South and related regional security dialogues provides channels to align positions with Washington on how to manage spillover from Venezuela’s political and humanitarian situation.