Tensions continued to grow in the Caribbean this week as Venezuela and the United States publicly flexed their military muscles, fueling concerns that both nations are edging closer to an armed confrontation.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had sunk three boats he said were smuggling drugs out of Venezuela, killing at least 14 people. Shortly afterward, U.S. Southern Command released a short video on its X account showing amphibious landing drills off Puerto Rico.
The footage appeared just hours after Venezuela announced it had launched its own military maneuvers in the Caribbean on La Orchila Island, an unmistakable attempt to send a message to Washington that it will be ready for a U.S. invasion.
Tensions between Washington and Caracas have escalated in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to deploy a substantial U.S. military force to combat drug cartels in the Caribbean. The administration has increasingly framed its anti-narcotics campaign as a top national defense priority.
The U.S. deployment includes eight warships—some with amphibious assault capabilities—F-35 fighter jets, and roughly 4,500 personnel. The scale and sophistication of the operation have raised concerns across the region, marking the largest U.S. military show of force in the Caribbean in decades.
The buildup appears directed primarily at the so-called Cartel of the Suns, which U.S. officials believe is run by Venezuela’s military and its powerful ally, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. The Trump administration has offered a record-breaking $50 million reward for information leading to the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, along with $25 million for Cabello.
The Southern Command video, posted Wednesday, showed U.S. Marines carrying out amphibious training exercises. The caption read: “The @USMC conducted an amphibious training exercise in the Caribbean where they are deployed in support of the #SOUTHCOM mission, @DeptofWar-directed operations, and @POTUS’ priorities.”
The release coincided with remarks by Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who confirmed the deployment of forces to La Orchila Island in response to the U.S. naval presence.
“There will be deployments of air defense with armed drones, surveillance drones, underwater drones....We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” Padrino warned, accusing the U.S. of raising its “threatening, vulgar voice.”
La Orchila, the site of the Venezuelan maneuvers, is a 43-square-kilometer island located in the Caribbean, about 110 miles from La Guaira state. State television broadcast images of amphibious vessels, Russian-made artillery systems and Venezuelan navy warships taking part in the exercises.
The deployment is part of a broader operation ordered by Maduro last week, which includes the creation of 284 “battle fronts” across the country and the mobilization of 25,000 troops along the borders. The government has also urged civilians to enlist in the military reserve.
“We are raising our operational readiness facing the Caribbean,” Padrino said. “We must elevate our operational readiness for a scenario of armed conflict at sea.”
Vice Admiral Irwin Raúl Pucci of the Venezuelan Navy reported that 12 warships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats belonging to the “special naval militia” are participating in the exercises.
Meanwhile, Caracas has pushed back against Washington’s narrative. The government has requested an investigation into the first boat sunk by U.S. forces on Sept. 2.
“About the three boats they mention, well, we just don’t know, we really don’t know, because they say they were carrying drugs, but who saw the drugs? They say the second one was carrying fentanyl. From here, from Venezuela—fentanyl? That’s hard to believe, very hard to believe,” Cabello said at a press conference.
Regime officials also insist that accusations linking them to the Suns Cartel are fabrications meant to justify an eventual invasion. Cabello added that Venezuela has been actively combating drug trafficking, claiming authorities had seized over 60 tons of narcotics in 2025 alone.
©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
