The visit highlighted the growing role of the U.S. military buildup in pressuring Venezuela over suspected drug trafficking.
Top U.S. military officials visited Puerto Rico on Monday as the U.S. government continues its largest naval deployment in the Caribbean in decades and tensions with Venezuela escalate over an alleged counter-drug operation.
Dan Kaine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Donald Trump’s chief military adviser, met with troops stationed in Puerto Rico on a Navy warship in nearby waters on Monday. Cain’s office said the visit would allow him to “interact with service members and thank them for their tremendous support of regional missions.”
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Mr. Cain’s visit to the region will be his second since the Pentagon expanded its efforts in the Caribbean, including the deployment of the Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. During the first visit, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the deployed Marines were “on the front lines of defending the American homeland.”
An E/A-18G Growler aircraft lands on the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the world’s largest aircraft carrier, during a flight operation in the Western Atlantic Ocean. U.S. forces deploy to the Caribbean to assist… pic.twitter.com/QUWEUeCOAx
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) November 24, 2025
The operation comes as President Trump considers further action against Venezuela, including offensive options, which he has refused to rule out. At least 83 people were killed on 21 vessels in regime maritime attacks on vessels it said were engaged in drug trafficking. No evidence of drug use has been made public, and legal experts say even if drug use were proven, the strike would likely violate international law.
President Trump spoke with his advisers on Monday and said he plans to meet directly with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at a date to be determined.
There are currently about 15,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in the Caribbean, including Marines on amphibious ships and about 5,000 military personnel based in Puerto Rico. The U.S. government has also stepped up joint training with Trinidad and Tobago, with a second round of exercises aimed at curbing violent crime and drug trafficking starting in less than a month.
Mr Kane is scheduled to visit Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow and meet Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Pressure increases over terrorist designation
The United States has increased pressure on Caracas by designating the Cartel de los Soles (or Cartel of the Suns) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), even though the network is not a cartel in the traditional sense. Until this year, the FTO label was primarily reserved for politically motivated groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS).
On Monday, Washington formally designated the Cartel de los Soles for allegedly transporting drugs into the United States. The administration says the network includes President Maduro and senior Venezuelan officials, but has provided no evidence. Venezuela condemned the move, calling it a “ridiculous” effort to sanction an entity that “doesn’t exist.”
This designation follows previous actions against eight Latin American criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and migrant smuggling. U.S. officials allege that the Cartel de los Soles collaborated with the Venezuelan criminal organization Torren de Aragua, itself designated an FTO, to move drugs north.
Officials have done little to specify which group they believe is behind the vessels targeted by the U.S. attacks. Hegseth said last week that the new designation would provide “a plethora of new options for the United States” in dealing with Maduro. Asked whether those options included a ground attack inside Venezuela, he said: “Nothing is off the table, but nothing is automatically on the plan either.” Sanctions experts point out that the FTO law does not authorize military action.
Caracas push back
Maduro’s government denies involvement in any criminal operations and accuses the United States of seeking regime change to control Venezuela’s resources.
“They want Venezuela’s oil and gas reserves. Free, free of charge. They want Venezuela’s gold. They want Venezuela’s diamonds, steel, bauxite. They want Venezuela’s natural resources,” Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez said on state television.
Foreign Minister Ivan Gil echoed that view, saying the U.S. designation reinstates “the infamous and despicable lies that justify unwarranted and illegal intervention in Venezuela.”
Insight Crime, a foundation that analyzes organized crime, described the cartel narrative as an “oversimplification” and said it was “more accurately described as a system of corruption in which military and political officials profit from collaboration with drug traffickers.”
The US election campaign has sparked intense debate domestically. A Reuters poll found that only 29% of Americans support killing suspected human traffickers without judicial oversight. A former senior Treasury official said the FTO designation was in no way intended to justify military operations. “It has never been suggested that designating an organization as an FTO would meet the criteria for military action,” the official said.
