Afrasianet - U.S. military moves in the Caribbean and Central American countries clearly indicate a U.S. attempt to remedy China, Russia, and North Korea's attempts to find a permanent foothold in this area.
Since last month, US-Venezuelan relations have entered a dangerous cycle of escalation and threats of the use of force, based on several backgrounds, which constitute a continuation of the state of "lurking" through which Washington views Caracas, especially with regard to the development of relations between the latter and major capitals such as Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran.
The two main trends in the escalation between the two countries are related to a U.S. argument - repeated over the past decades - regarding the high levels of drug smuggling operations coming from Central and South America to North America, passing through the Panama Canal and parts of the Colombian and Venezuelan coasts, and the southern coast of Puerto Rico, Haiti and Cuba, and Washington using this as a pretext to send quality maritime and air media in the direction of the Venezuelan coast and Puerto Rico territory. The second trend is related to the renewal of the historical conflict between Venezuela and Guyana, a dispute over the dependence of the oil- and mineral-rich region of Isiquibo.
The Argument of Drug Smuggling... Again
In principle, this is not the first time that the United States of America has launched military operations against drug trafficking gangs from Central and South America, as historically Washington has previously launched air and sea operations against drug smuggling in this area, the most important of which is Operation Kindle Liberty in 1983, according to which American fighter jets were stationed at Howard Air Force Base in Panama, to intercept light planes transporting drugs from their places of manufacture to North America, which is the method used by drug trafficking gangs during the The period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Washington launched a similar air operation in the early 1990s, under the name of "Coronet Night Hawk", during which the US Air Force used its fighters to monitor the skies of Central America and the Caribbean, to detect drug smuggling planes, and Howard Air Force Base in Panama was also the main base for this operation, which was originally affiliated with the US Air Force's Air Operations Command, and then moved in its final stages to take place under the responsibility of the Air National Guard.
During the years of activating this mission, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets were working to detect, intercept, and shoot down suspected aircraft in the event that they were confirmed to be involved in drug trafficking, and this method was largely effective, as it was reduced by 2001 — the year this mission ended, with the entry into force of the Panama Canal Treaty, which ended the U.S. military presence in Panama and returned control of the Panama Canal and nearby military bases to the Panamanian government — smuggling operations Drugs by air, from 75 percent of all drugs arriving in North America, to less than 25 percent.
It is noteworthy that the scope of work of the American fighter jets in the two operations mainly included the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts, and even in 2000, the US military, in the stage before the closure of its bases in Panama, sent air forces to the "Curaçao" region of the Netherlands, which is only a few kilometers away from Venezuela, to carry out operations to combat drug smuggling, which in general, means that the factor related to the fight against drug trafficking in this area cannot be ignored, especially since the smuggling method has become adopted in a way that larger on newer modes of transport, specifically partially submersible boats, as well as primitive-built submarines.
However, despite this reality, which justifies, in principle, the activation of US military capabilities in the Venezuelan domain, the naval and air capabilities that have been sent to Puerto Rico are not commensurate in their size, impact and armament, with the logical tasks that can be carried out against smuggling operations, which in practice require only a few drones, which have good electro-optical and electronic capabilities for day and night monitoring, and are armed with munitions capable of targeting small and medium ships, all of which are specifications that apply to Drones such as the MQ-9 REAPER, and U.S. has already sent two such drones to Puerto Rico.
However, the reality of the situation indicates that Washington has mobilized a significant naval and air force in the vicinity of Venezuela during the past few days, as this force can be divided into three main sections, the first is a naval strike force consisting of four guided missile destroyers, one of the Ticonderroja-class destroyers, three of the "Arlei Burke" class, and of the Los Angeles-class submarine. The media of this section are spread around the coast of Haiti and Puerto Rico, and the most important feature of this section is that it has a total 140 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The second division is an amphibious naval force consisting of six naval units, led by the amphibious assault ship "Iwo Jima", the amphibious transport ships "San Antonio" and "Fort Lauderdale", in addition to three support, minesweeping and transport ships, and it is remarkable that it includes a force of US Marines, numbering between 2,500 and 4,000 soldiers, knowing that this section is heading to Puerto Rico, under the guise of carrying out training operations. The third section is an air section, consisting mainly of ten F-35 fighters. B-2 is currently being transferred to Puerto Rico, in addition to the vehicles already present there, including 13 combat helicopters, 6 Harrier helicopters, 12 transport aircraft, two refueling planes, and two B-8A naval patrol aircraft.
Renewed tension between Venezuela and Guyana
In the shadows of previous tensions, U.S. imprints are visible in another aspect of tension in Venezuela's periphery: the historic dispute over the dependence of the Essequibo region.
Although Washington did not intervene directly in this file, it did hint at its presence in late 2023, after the US Southern Special Operations Command (SOCSOUTH) released a video of training operations off the coast of Guyana late last year, in which a modified ground attack transport aircraft, of the type "AC-130J", appeared while firing 30mm shells during a live-fire exercise, which caused a wave of questions about the timing of the release of this recording at the time. The long-standing border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela has continued to escalate sharply.
In May 2024, two U.S. Marine F-18 fighter jets launched from the USS George Washington aircraft carrier conducted a coordinated flight over Georgetown, Guyana's capital, and its surroundings, widely interpreted as a show of force directed at neighboring Venezuela.
In general, the dispute between the two sides over the region of "Essequibo", a region rich in natural resources that makes up almost two-thirds of Guyana's area, dates back to the 19th century, but it flared up again after Venezuelan officials threatened to annex the region, which entailed a Venezuelan military buildup on the border, and a counter-mobilization on the part of Guyana, and Brazil moved some of its troops to the east of the country, on the border with Guyana, to try to keep pace with any similar developments, which in general led to an escalation of tension for several months late in 2023 and early last year.
Despite regional efforts to prevent this file from exploding, it has become noticeable that the continuous escalation of this dispute has been noticeable in recent years, especially since the start of oil discoveries within the scope of the "Essequibo" region in 2015, the most recent chapter of this escalation was last March, when boats belonging to the Venezuelan Coast Guard entered the economic waters of Guyana, specifically the oil-rich "Stabrok" region.
At the moment, Venezuela accuses Guyana of seeking a decisive military confrontation over this region, and the available information indicates that both countries are in the process of strengthening their logistical and military capabilities in preparation for this, as Venezuela, for its part, has been working for some time to expand the military base on the island of Anacoco and the coast guard base in Guerra. Guyana is also currently investing in modernizing its naval fleet, having signed a memorandum of understanding with OCEA last yearThe French have purchased a coastal patrol vessel, joining another vessel that Guyana bought from the American company "Metal Shark" in 2021.
Objectives of the US military buildup in the vicinity of Venezuela
Despite the relevance of the justifications for the deployment of this large US military force in the Venezuelan area - justifications that ranged from confronting drug smuggling operations to supporting allied countries - the nature of the armament accompanying this force is not commensurate with these objectives in any way, especially those related to destroyers, submarines, and F-35 fighters, knowing that the operation to target a drug transport boat, which Washington said belonged to the "Train de Aragoa" gang, several days ago - which is the first operation carried out against smuggling ships since Washington's announcement that it will begin operations in the Caribbean — done by drone, that is, the push of fifth-generation fighters to Puerto Rico — is unjustified, whether operational or even in terms of operating costs.
The fact of the matter is that the operation of targeting this boat was linked to the current American vision of the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as Washington, for its part, has never hid its opposition to this regime – and the current US president has directly linked Maduro to the "Train de Aragua" gang, which Trump issued a decree last March to classify it as a foreign terrorist organization.
In practice, this linkage means that the intensive deployment of U.S. military capabilities can be considered a sharp message from Washington to the regime in Venezuela, and this is perhaps what Caracas read clearly, so its initiative one day after the aforementioned boat was targeted, by sending two F-16 fighter jets to fly near the American destroyer Jason Dunham, after transiting the Panama Strait, on its way to Puerto Rico.
The location of the US military buildup is mainly linked to Puerto Rico, which is located about 500 miles north of Venezuela, and some analyses suggest that it should not necessarily be linked to an "imminent" operation to topple the regime in Venezuela, but rather that the superior monitoring capabilities of the F-35 fighter jets may be used to gather real-time and up-to-date intelligence from Venezuelan territory, in preparation for the possibility of a "limited air strike" against certain Venezuelan military capabilities in an attempt to curb Rein in Venezuelan nationalist tendencies that are hostile to U.S. policy in this geographic scope.
Although the nature of U.S. military moves remains unclear — with no clear threats of force against Venezuela — Caracas is preparing for the possibility of limited or qualitative attacks: at the end of last month, it announced the deployment of more than 4.5 million paramilitaries across the country, volunteers dedicated to supporting the Venezuelan military in emergencies, and announced the deployment of 15,000 troops on the border with Venezuela. Colombia, to participate in counter-narcotics operations.
In summary, the US military movements in the Caribbean and the Central American countries clearly indicate an American attempt to remedy the attempts of China, Russia and North Korea to find a permanent foothold in this area, which may explain other US military initiatives, such as the "Golden Dome" initiative, to organize an integrated air defense network to protect the United States from the dangers of ballistic missiles Theoretically from American soil.
In fact, drug trafficking is certainly a valid justification for military naval and air operations, but the question remains as to the extent to which these operations will generally affect drug trafficking in the Caribbean, and whether these operations will later expand to include other targets, whether defensive and intelligence, or offensive targets.