The United States is working to strengthen its military forces in the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico. More than 10% of the US Navy’s ships and other resources are now in the region, defense analysts say Call a ‘Seismic rearrangement’ of Pentagon assets.
The size of the agencies involved indicates the escalation of the military campaign launched by the Trump administration against Venezuela and President Nicolas Maduro. So far, that attack has publicly involved the killing of at least 28 people in six known strikes, including one on Thursday, against small boats in the Caribbean Sea. Two of those injured in the latest raid, the first to survive the US attacks, are reportedly being held aboard a Navy ship.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Trump again claimed that the targeted ships were carrying drugs trafficked by Venezuelan cartels — at the behest of Mr. Maduro — to harm the United States. Trump said the strikes were intended to send a clear message to the Venezuelan president that the United States was serious, using an expletive. He added that the submarine was the target of the administration’s latest strike.
Why did we write this?
The volume of US military equipment heading to Puerto Rico signals an escalation of the Trump administration’s military campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The president says ground strikes could follow.
Some analysts assume that the president’s arguments are just a pretext for a larger campaign aimed at ousting Mr. Maduro.
The Venezuelan leader has denied involvement in drug trafficking – referring to the allegations as “fake news, spread through various media channels” – and has offered to engage in a “direct and frank conversation” with a special US envoy.
The White House did not provide any evidence or intelligence data confirming that the people killed were criminals.
However, President Trump admitted on Wednesday that he had authorized the CIA to begin planning covert operations, which could include strikes within Venezuelan territorial waters or even on land. It was an unusual admission of what would normally be considered a sensitive state secret.
“We’re definitely looking at land now, because we control the sea very well,” Trump said.
What exactly is the Pentagon sending to the Caribbean?
US forces began flowing into the region in earnest in August. The Pentagon has placed, among other assets, three Navy destroyers, several amphibious assault ships and an attack submarine in the area, according to Reuters and USNI News, a news service affiliated with the Naval Institute.
The Pentagon also sent F-35 fighter jets and B-52 bombers, as well as a ship equipped with a helipad.
Notably, two AC-130 warplanes have been deployed to the region, according to Henry Zimmer, an associate fellow in the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C. “This is very interesting, because the AC-130 is, of course, intended for low-intensity conflicts.”
“Low-intensity conflict” is the Pentagon’s term for fighting that falls short of a conventional war between the two countries. Rather, it is a military effort to achieve American political goals through counterinsurgency or counterterrorism operations, for example.
AC-130s have been a workhorse during these types of US conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, providing “low and slow” air support to US forces doing everything from running convoys to conducting operations in urban areas.
Some analysts expect a US aircraft carrier to be sent to the region soon.
Why does Puerto Rico figure prominently in this crowd?
The United States has a limited number of bases within US Southern Command, which is the name the Pentagon gives to this area of military operations, which includes Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. This makes sense, because the US mainland is relatively close. But if operations continue for a long period, more forward-operating forces will be necessary, notes A CCS report Co-written by Mr. Zimmer.
For this reason, Puerto Rico has emerged as a highly strategic staging point for the continued US presence in the region, which “needs airfields to fly its aircraft and ports to dock and resupply ships,” the report notes. “Puerto Rico has so far provided the lion’s share of the infrastructure.”
Marine reconnaissance aircraft, such as the P-8A Poseidon, fly from National Guard facilities stationed at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, and the Port of Ponce, one of the main shipping hubs in southern Puerto Rico, hosts many warships.
Pressure to find more bases for US forces in the region also prompted the United States to reactivate the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station near Ceiba, Puerto Rico, which had been closed for more than two decades.
What is the purpose of accumulation?
That all this lays the groundwork for the ouster of Mr. Maduro was the most discussed possibility among analysts this week.
Zimmer says that the US military presence in the region, which is said to number 10,000 soldiers, “is, in my opinion, far too large to constitute an anti-drug force.” At the same time, he adds: “I think this is too small to be a real invasion and a force to change the regime.”
In 1989, during its invasion of Panama, the United States sent nearly 27,000 troops to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega. In 1983, it sent only 7,300 soldiers to occupy Grenada.
But Venezuela is much larger, and suffers from greater complexities.
The announcement Thursday that Adm. Alvin Hulsey, head of U.S. Southern Command, will retire after one year of a three-year term, injects a measure of uncertainty into American plans.
So does the news this week that the Trump administration has given the CIA the green light to begin planning covert operations in Venezuela. The development, first reported by The New York Times, could be an attempt to pressure Maduro — who, in addition to alleged human rights abuses, dismantling of democratic institutions, and drug trafficking, has long enjoyed the support of U.S. rivals Russia and China — to step down, analysts say.
While it is unclear what these covert military operations might entail, targets inside Venezuela are within range of Tomahawk missiles, although ships carrying these missiles are anchored in Puerto Rico.
The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. But last week, the Senate voted down a resolution that would have blocked President Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean. A bipartisan group of senators kicked off Thursday Try again To hold a vote to prevent the president from authorizing military action “in or against” Venezuela without congressional authorization.
The White House announced that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with the drug cartels that it says control these ships, and described many of the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“One thing that seems quite certain is that the United States may be considering moving from strikes that are all in international waters at the moment to strikes within Venezuelan territory,” Zimmer says.
He adds that it is unlikely to be determined whether this is within Venezuelan territorial waters or “actually on the ground.”