Pentagon chief visits Puerto Rico amid tensions with Venezuela

ISTANBUL

Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth visited Puerto Rico on Monday as the US escalated military operations against Venezuelan drug cartels, with the island serving as a strategic base for regional anti-narcotics efforts.

Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon welcomed Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, thanking the Trump administration for recognizing the territory's strategic importance.

"We thank (US President Donald) Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere, perpetuated by narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro," Gonzalez-Colon wrote on the US social media company X’s platform, referring to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

She said the anti-trafficking fight "will firmly position Puerto Rico as the United States' border in the Caribbean" while addressing "the problem at its root—by targeting the source of the drugs."

The visit follows Trump's executive order authorizing increased military force against Latin American drug cartels and the deployment of a naval group including seven warships and a submarine to Caribbean waters near Venezuela on Aug. 28 and amid media reports that the Trump administration plans to deploy F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico.

Recently, US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have conducted amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.

When asked Sunday if he plans to attack Venezuela, Trump replied: "You're gonna find out."

Puerto Rico, a US unincorporated territory, maintains a complex political relationship with the US while serving as a crucial strategic outpost for regional military operations.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order to rebrand the Department of Defense as the "Department of War.’

The order designates "Department of War" as a secondary title for the agency and "Secretary of War" as a secondary title for the defense secretary, Hegseth.

The US has long accused Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles drug network. On July 25, the US Treasury designated the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization.

On Aug. 8, Washington doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction from $25 million to $50 million.

Maduro responded on Aug. 18, saying: “We defend our seas, our skies and our land. No empire can touch Venezuela’s sacred territory or South America’s sacred lands.”