The United States has deployed F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico amid reports that President Donald Trump is considering military strikes against drug cartels operating inside Venezuela.
Ten of the advanced jets are reportedly being sent as part of Washington’s expanded operations against Latin American cartels it designates as “narco-terrorist” organisations.
According to US media, the Trump administration is weighing direct attacks on trafficking groups inside Venezuela, a move that would significantly escalate already high tensions with President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Maduro urged Washington to “abandon its plan of violent regime change” and to respect Venezuela’s sovereignty. He warned that any attack would trigger an “armed struggle,” while mobilising the country’s 340,000 soldiers along with claimed millions of reservists and militia.
Trump, however, denied seeking regime change, instead questioning the legitimacy of Venezuela’s last presidential election.
The deployment of the F-35s adds to a major US naval build-up in the southern Caribbean, which includes at least seven warships, thousands of Marines, and a nuclear-powered submarine stationed near Venezuelan waters.
On Thursday, the Pentagon accused Caracas of a “highly provocative” act after two Venezuelan F-16s reportedly flew near the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham. Trump warned that US forces had authorization to shoot down any Venezuelan jets deemed a threat.
The situation follows a US strike earlier in the week, when American forces blew up a speedboat in the Caribbean allegedly belonging to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal group. Trump said 11 people were killed, while Caracas condemned the attack as an “extrajudicial killing.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the aggressive approach, arguing that drug cartels pose a direct threat. “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” he said during a visit to Mexico.
