Around 4,000 Marines are conducting war games in Puerto Rico amid a US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea aimed at Venezuela.
On Sunday, thousands of Marines with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed to Puerto Rico to conduct military drills. The Marines are joined by the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship. The US has already deployed multiple warships to the Caribbean, including three guided missile destroyers and an attack submarine.
The Trump administration said the deployments are meant to combat cartels designated as terror organizations. One of the listed gangs is Cartel de los Soles. While there is scant evidence that the cartel exists as a formal organization, the State Department claims Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is the head of Cartel de los Soles.
The US has deemed Maduro’s presidency as illegitimate and placed a $50 million bounty for his capture.
Maduro has responded to the threat by mobilizing millions of military troops and increasing border patrols. “I will activate a special plan to guarantee coverage with more than 4.5 million militia members throughout the national territory, militias trained, activated, and armed,” he said last month. “We defend our seas, our skies, and our lands. We liberated them. We guard and patrol them. No empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela, nor should it touch the sacred soil of South America.”
Trump attempted to overthrow Maduro during his first term in office. His current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is a long-time Venezuela hawk.
