As we approach the winter holidays, the Caribbean Sea has transformed into a powder keg, with the United States amassing its most formidable naval armada in decades mere miles from Venezuela's coastline under the banner of "Operation Southern Spear." The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford—the world's largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, loaded with over 90 aircraft and accompanied by destroyers packing nearly 200 Tomahawk missiles—signals a dramatic escalation beyond mere counter-narcotics patrols. President Trump has received repeated high-level briefings on strike options inside Venezuela, including targeted assassinations of regime figures and bombings of ports and airstrips tied to alleged drug trafficking, while privately musing about the country's vast oil reserves. With over 15,000 U.S. troops now deployed in the region, including Marines poised for rapid amphibious assaults, the specter of American boots on Venezuelan soil looms larger than at any point since the Cold War.
Roosevelt Roads
In September, the United States began quietly reactivating the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, a sprawling Cold War-era facility shuttered since 2004 after decades as one of the Navy's largest Caribbean hubs. Initial activity involved U.S. Marines and Air Force personnel deploying F-35B stealth fighters, Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, CH-53 helicopters, and heavy transport planes to the site's eleven thousand foot runway, alongside rapid infrastructure upgrades. Officially framed as part of enhanced counter-narcotics efforts, the reactivation transformed Roosevelt Roads into a key forward logistics and staging hub less than 600 miles from Venezuela.
By mid-November, multiple reports confirmed the base's full operational status, with sustained presence of advanced assets and thousands of personnel. The move has positioned Roosevelt Roads as a central node for potential expanded operations in the Caribbean, underscoring a strategic U.S. return to forward basing in the region for the first time in two decades.
Maduro Responds
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, branded the head of a "narco-terrorist" cartel with a $50 million dollar U.S. bounty on his capture, has responded by mobilizing civilian militias and placing the armed forces on maximum alert, vowing to turn any invasion into "another Vietnam" or "endless Afghanistan." Deadly U.S. strikes have already sunk dozens of suspected drug-smuggling vessels off Venezuela's coast, killing at least 80. The think tank experts and retired generals offering commentary on cable news warn that even limited ground incursions—including Special Forces raids to seize Maduro or dismantle fentanyl labs—could fracture Venezuela's military, sparking insurgencies fueled by armed colectivos and pro-regime paramilitaries equipped with Russian and Iranian weapons. As fractured cartel alliances and Tren de Aragua gangs exploit the turmoil, a U.S. deployment without set objectives and a rapid exit risks a protracted guerrilla conflict in rugged jungles and urban slums.
The geopolitical fallout from U.S. troops in Venezuela could also shatter Latin American stability, igniting widespread condemnation and potential alliances against Washington from Brazil to Mexico, while empowering Russia, Iran, and China to arm Caracas further. President Trump's cryptic hints that he's "made up his mind" on next steps, coupled with failed Senate bids to curb his war powers, leave the region bracing for what comes next. Colombian President Gustavo Petro publicly has called on Latin American countries to unite and jointly resist any U.S. invasion of the region, stating that the continent must be ready to "fight back."
As the USS Gerald R. Ford's fighter jets patrol skies within striking distance and drones scout inland targets, the window for de-escalation is narrowing—yet the momentum toward ground operations is increasing.
Trump is Right...
The Trump Administration has rightly prioritized the destruction of narco-terrorist networks flooding American communities with deadly drugs, launching Operation Southern Spear as a decisive counteroffensive against the Venezuelan regime's complicity in transnational drug trafficking. With Nicolás Maduro long indicted as the head of the Cartel de los Soles and his government providing safe haven to groups like Tren de Aragua, the deployment of overwhelming U.S. naval and air power sends an unmistakable message that the era of weak-willed interdictions is over. These precise strikes protect the homeland without risking a single American life. It is strong leadership restoring deterrence after years of lax policies allowing fentanyl, cocaine, and heroine to kill hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens.
Critics may whine about international norms or demand endless evidence while ignoring the intelligence confirming these boats' illicit cargo and terrorist affiliations, but sovereign nations have every right to defend their people from foreign threats in international waters. President Trump's approach—treating drug cartels as the enemy combatants they are—marks a welcome return to the peace through strength doctrine.
|
