The US has increased military activity in the Caribbean, saying the moves aim to disrupt drug trafficking while exerting pressure on Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago has openly supported the deployment, and countries such as Guyana, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have provided varying levels of cooperation or access. Operations have included naval drills, use of bases like Roosevelt Roads and Comalapa, and deployment of aircraft such as the AC-130J; authorities also reported large cocaine seizures tied to the campaign. Caracas and its allies condemn the buildup as provocative, even as several governments label the so-called "Cartel de los Soles" a criminal or terrorist network.
Which Countries Are Backing the US Military Buildup in the Caribbean — and Why?
The US has increased military activity in the Caribbean, saying the moves aim to disrupt drug trafficking while exerting pressure on Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago has openly supported the deployment, and countries such as Guyana, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have provided varying levels of cooperation or access. Operations have included naval drills, use of bases like Roosevelt Roads and Comalapa, and deployment of aircraft such as the AC-130J; authorities also reported large cocaine seizures tied to the campaign. Caracas and its allies condemn the buildup as provocative, even as several governments label the so-called "Cartel de los Soles" a criminal or terrorist network.
06:31 AM, 11/20/2025Security
The United States has stepped up military activity in the Caribbean, presenting it as an effort to disrupt drug trafficking routes while also increasing pressure on the Venezuelan government. The deployment has drawn a mix of open cooperation, logistical support and diplomatic backing from several regional governments, even as Caracas and its allies condemn the moves as provocative.
Trinidad and Tobago
Located roughly 11 kilometers (7 miles) from Venezuela at its nearest point, Trinidad and Tobago has publicly supported the US deployment. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressed strong backing after a US strike on an alleged drug-running vessel, drawing controversy with the remark that she had "no sympathy for traffickers; the US military should kill them all violently." After the deployment began in August, she also warned that she would allow US defensive operations from Trinidad and Tobago if Venezuela attacked Guyana — signaling a shift from a long-standing posture of neutrality.
Guyana
Guyana backed the US operation early on, endorsing a "collaborative and integrated approach to tackle transnational organized crime." Georgetown cited the threat posed by cross-border criminal networks — including the group Washington calls the "Cartel de los Soles." US Southern Command chief Admiral Alvin Holsey visited Guyana to reinforce regional security cooperation and discuss the two countries’ defense partnership.
El Salvador
Photos and satellite imagery showed an AC-130J gunship at El Salvador’s Comalapa Cooperative Security Base in early November. The AC-130J can carry precision missiles but is primarily armed with large-caliber cannons; images indicated two visible side-mounted cannons, including a 105mm howitzer. US officials note that Comalapa’s coastal location provides strategic reach into the Pacific, a key transit route for cocaine bound for the United States.
Panama
Panama has hosted US training exercises while its government has emphasized that these activities are part of bilateral cooperation rather than hostile acts against Venezuela. Panama dissolved its standing military in 1990 but has long allowed US military activity; a memorandum signed in April expanded US access to air and naval facilities for joint drills.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic announced stepped-up cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities reported interceptions linked to the operation — including seizures of 806 and nearly 500 packages of suspected cocaine from speedboats off Pedernales — described by officials as support for the Pentagon’s Operation Southern Spear.
Puerto Rico
As a US territory with the largest concentration of American military facilities in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico is a logistical hub for the deployment. Satellite imagery and photographs indicate the previously closed Roosevelt Roads Naval Station has been reactivated, and US Marines conducted amphibious landing exercises in the archipelago in late September.
Other facilities and dissenting governments
Washington also uses long-standing bases where host governments have expressed concern about the current deployments. The US-operated naval base at Guantánamo Bay in southeastern Cuba drew formal condemnation from Havana. In Honduras, a US air base hosts several hundred US military personnel along with civilian staff; Honduran President Xiomara Castro has criticized the deployment and previously warned she might reconsider the base’s use under certain policy conditions.
Regional politics and the Cartel de los Soles
Several South American governments have taken political steps against what they call the Cartel de los Soles. Ecuador labeled it an "organized crime terrorist group" in August, and Paraguay and Argentina have issued similar designations. At the same time, analysts and former officials caution that the Cartel de los Soles is not a conventionally organized cartel in the mold of transnational mafias and that attributing its leadership directly to Venezuela’s president is contested — even where evidence points to elements of state involvement in narcotics trafficking.
Overall, regional cooperation ranges from direct operational support and base access to diplomatic and logistical assistance. The combination of military presence, partner-nation access to bases, and recent maritime drug seizures underscores how Washington’s anti-drug campaign and its strategic pressure on Caracas have become closely linked in both Caribbean and adjacent Pacific approaches.