There is no confirmed public reporting that U.S. ground combat troops are stationed inside Venezuela as an occupying presence; current information instead describes a large U.S. military buildup around the country and ongoing strike operations from outside its territory.

Current U.S. military presence

  • U.S. forces have been deployed in significant numbers to the Caribbean region and nearby areas as part of operations against the Maduro government and associated “narco‑terrorist” networks.
  • Reporting describes roughly 12,000–15,000 U.S. troops in the broader theater (on ships and regional bases), rather than as a defined garrison “in Venezuela” itself.

Strikes and operations involving Venezuela

  • On 3 January 2026, the United States launched airstrikes under “Operation Absolute Resolve” against multiple targets in and around Caracas and other northern Venezuelan locations.
  • These actions followed months of buildup under “Operation Southern Spear,” with carrier groups, warships, and special operations units positioned in the Caribbean and nearby countries, enabling strikes without a large ground occupation footprint inside Venezuela.

Why numbers are hard to pin down “in Venezuela”

  • Public sources distinguish between “troops in the region” (on ships and foreign bases) and small, often classified special operations elements that may conduct raids inside Venezuela; the latter are rarely given precise headcounts.
  • Official statements speak of thousands of personnel committed to the operation overall, but do not provide a clear, verified figure for how many are physically on Venezuelan soil at any given time, so any exact number would be speculative.

Bottom line: publicly available information points to tens of thousands of U.S. personnel committed across the wider operation, with strikes and limited incursions into Venezuela, but not a clearly documented, stable number of U.S. troops openly based inside the country.