WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is continuing to boost its military forces near Venezuela to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels -- even after a U.S. strike destroyed what President Donald Trump said was a drug-carrying boat operated by the Tren de Aragua gang.
The U.S. government has not signaled any planned land incursion from the thousands of personnel being deployed, and analysts and current and former government officials see no possibility of an invasion in Venezuela.
Still, Trump hailed an attack this past week that killed 11 people aboard a boat that had departed Venezuela, a rare instance of U.S. military action in the Americas, and said “Venezuela has been a very bad actor.”
Tensions also have dominated conversations in the streets and at dinner tables in Venezuela, where an alleged threat of invasion is spilling over from social media and state television. The government has capitalized on the speculation by appealing to people, primarily its diminishing base, to enlist in a beleaguered militia. The opposition is again characterizing U.S. actions as a sign of President Nicolás Maduro’s rule nearing an end.
The U.S. is further deploying 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico for operations targeting drug cartels, a person familiar with the planning said Saturday. The person spoke only on condition of anonymity because information about the deployments has not been made public.
That's in addition to two Aegis guided-missile destroyers — the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham — the U.S. Navy already has in the Caribbean, as well as the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean off Latin America, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe unfolding operations.
Officials said three amphibious assault ships — a force that encompasses more than 4,000 sailors and Marines — were also in Caribbean waters, though they've refused to say exactly where the USS Iwo Jima, the USS San Antonio and the USS Fort Lauderdale are heading.
Here’s what to know about the situation:
What's the purpose of the US deployment?
Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, recently told reporters that U.S. ships are heading into waters off South America to support “Venezuelan operations and missions” that involve drug cartels.
Speaking Aug. 28 at a Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, Caudle cited the concern that some Venezuelans are taking part in large drug operations. But he declined to provide specifics about the military’s goals, saying much of the information is classified.
Caudle said his job is to provide naval forces for military commanders to deploy, which in turn gives “the president and secretary of defense options."
The expanded deployment comes as Trump has increasingly endorsed using the military to thwart cartels he blames for the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into American communities and for perpetuating violence in some U.S. cities.
Trump has designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, MS-13 in El Salvador and six groups based in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations, pointing to international connections and operations of the groups that include drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and violent pushes to extend their territory.
Christopher Sabatini, a research fellow at the Chatham House in London, said the deployment, the Tren de Aragua’s designation and the recent doubling of a bounty for Maduro are parts of the White House’s strategy of making “as much noise as possible” to satisfy Venezuela’s opposition, some of whom are Trump supporters, and to “scare maneuver” high-level government officials into defecting.
But, he added, “there’s no realism here in terms of the likelihood of an actual invasion.”
How has Maduro’s government reacted?
When a state television presenter recently asked Maduro for his take on “these siren songs about a fleet of marines coming to end” his government, the president said more than 90% of Venezuelans reject the “announcements and threats from the U.S. government.”
“We, Venezuelans, are within our own law, and no one touches this land,” Maduro added.
Maduro also repudiated the drug trafficking accusations from the U.S. and insisted Venezuela, unlike neighboring Colombia, is “free of coca leaf crops and free of cocaine production.” He also suggested that drug crimes are the White House’s accusations du jour.
“They have changed the narrative and no longer accuse those they want to destroy of being communists," Maduro said. “That was the accusation they made during the Soviet Union.” He added: “They no longer accuse them of being terrorists … (as) when they accused Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya of being terrorists. Now, the crude — I’d say extravagant — outlandish accusation is drug trafficking.”
Also, Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, Samuel Moncada, has asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call on the U.S. government to stop “all its hostile actions and threats” and respect his country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Why is Venezuela pressing for sign-ups for its volunteer militia?
U.S. actions prompted Maduro to call on Venezuelans to join a volunteer militia meant to assist the armed forces in case of attack. Members have hosted sign-up drives, which Maduro characterized as successful without providing the number of new recruits.
The government has also held enlistment events.
The ruling party has long claimed the militia's membership to be above 4.5 million, but that is certainly an overcount as support for the government has plummeted, and millions, including Maduro supporters, have migrated in search of better living conditions.
The figure contrasts sharply with the results of last year’s presidential election, which ruling party-loyal electoral authorities said Maduro won despite credible evidence to the contrary. Electoral authorities claimed Maduro received 6.4 million votes, while detailed tally sheets released from the opposition showed he lost with 3.4 million votes.
What is Venezuela's political opposition saying?
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose surrogate Edmundo González is recognized by the U.S. and several other governments as the legitimate winner of the 2024 election, has appeared on Fox News Channel to thank Trump administration officials for taking “the right approach, with courage and clarity, towards the criminal enterprise that has taken over” Venezuela.
"The time has come for change," Machado said.
She also posted on X that Venezuelans had “disobeyed” the government by not showing up to last weekend's militia recruitment effort.
“The empty squares of Venezuela today herald the future that is approaching,” she wrote.
But that promise is not new for Venezuelans.
Sabatini of Chatham House criticized opposition leaders for “cynically manipulating people’s hopes” again and “falling into this trap that an invasion is imminent.”
“They’ve just been sort of parked in neutral,” Sabatini said, referring to the faction’s inability to energize its base since the presidential election. “This is a new opportunity they’re trying to seize on.”
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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Va., Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.