Newsletters
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tensions with Venezuela on Friday, threatening to shoot down military aircraft that endanger U.S. forces as the Pentagon positioned advanced F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico amid an expanding anti-drug operation targeting the Maduro government.
The deployment of 10 F-35 warplanes to the U.S. territory comes as a significant military buildup in the southern Caribbean, where Trump has launched what he describes as a war on drug cartels. The aircraft join eight Navy vessels already conducting counter-narcotics operations across the region.
"If they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down," Trump said when asked about potential Venezuelan provocations, referring to what the Pentagon called a "highly provocative" flyby by two Venezuelan military planes near a U.S. Navy vessel Thursday.
The escalating confrontation follows Tuesday's deadly military strike on what Washington characterized as a drug-carrying boat linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization. The attack killed 11 people and represented an unusual deployment of military force in what has traditionally been a law enforcement matter.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has responded by mobilizing his country's military forces, including what he claims are more than eight million reservists alongside Venezuela's 340,000-strong armed forces. The leftist leader, whose 2024 election victory Washington considers illegitimate, denounced the U.S. military presence as "the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years."
"If Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately enter a period of armed struggle," Maduro told foreign correspondents, declaring his nation prepared for "armed struggle in defense of the national territory."
The Trump administration has framed its aggressive approach as targeting what it calls "narcoterrorist" organizations. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described Maduro as an "indicted drug trafficker" leading a "drug cartel, a narcotrafficking organization."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a Latin American trip this week, defended the militarized strategy against drug trafficking groups. "What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them," Rubio said Wednesday in Mexico. "If you're on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl headed to the United States, you're an immediate threat to the United States."
1 min read
The Pentagon's regional deployment now includes three amphibious assault ships, two destroyers, a cruiser and a littoral combat ship operating in Caribbean waters, plus an additional destroyer in the eastern Pacific, according to defense officials.
Venezuela's air force operates approximately 15 F-16 fighter jets purchased from the United States in the 1980s, supplemented by Russian-made fighters and helicopters.
Caracas has accused Washington of conducting extrajudicial killings in Tuesday's boat attack, adding to diplomatic tensions between the two nations. The confrontation represents the most serious military standoff in the Caribbean since Trump took office and launched his anti-cartel campaign.
3 min read
