The United States has reportedly deployed F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico as President Donald Trump weighs potential strikes on drug cartels operating inside Venezuela, escalating already fraught tensions with Caracas.
According to US defense sources cited by news outlets, 10 F-35 warplanes are being stationed in Puerto Rico to support expanded anti-drug operations. Washington has labeled several Latin American cartels as “narco-terrorist” groups, accusing them of ties to Venezuela’s leadership.
The deployment comes alongside a significant US naval build-up in the southern Caribbean, including at least seven warships, 4,500 sailors and Marines, and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine. Officials said the measures are meant to curb narcotics trafficking but are also seen as a message to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump administration weighs strikes
Citing multiple sources, CNN reported that the Trump administration is considering direct military strikes on drug trafficking groups inside Venezuela. Such a move would mark a dramatic escalation, raising concerns of confrontation in the region.
On Tuesday, US forces destroyed a speedboat in the Caribbean, which Trump said belonged to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal group he has tied to Maduro. Eleven people were killed in the strike, which Caracas condemned as an “extrajudicial killing.” Legal experts have also questioned the attack’s legitimacy under international law.
Maduro’s response
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday urged Washington to “abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America.”
“I respect Trump. None of the differences we’ve had can lead to a military conflict,” Maduro said, while stressing that Venezuela remains open to dialogue.
However, he also mobilized the country’s 340,000-strong armed forces, along with militia members and reservists, claiming the total exceeds eight million personnel. Earlier this week, he warned that if Venezuela were attacked, the nation would “immediately enter a period of armed struggle.”
Close calls at sea and in the air
The Pentagon accused Caracas of a “highly provocative” maneuver on Thursday, when two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets reportedly flew near the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham.
Trump later warned that any Venezuelan aircraft threatening US naval assets would be “shot down.”
“The military has the authorisation. If they put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down,” Trump told reporters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Mexico, backed the hardline stance, saying: “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them.” He argued that only decisive military action could weaken drug cartels tied to Venezuela.
