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Sources: US deploys stealth fighters to Caribbean in drug war as tensions rise with Venezuela

Sources say that the United States has ordered 10 F-35 fighters to be deployed to an airfield in Puerto Rico to conduct operations against the drug cartels. This will add more firepower to the intensifying U.S. Military operations in the Caribbean, which are increasing tensions with Venezuela.

As President Obama continues to increase U.S. military activity in the southern Caribbean, this new deployment will be added to an already burgeoning presence.

Donald Trump

He follows through on a pledge made during his campaign to crackdown on the groups he accuses of funneling drugs into America.

Just hours after the announcement, the F-35s were revealed.

Pentagon

Venezuela was accused of a "highly provocation" flight by fighter jets on Thursday over a U.S. Navy ship.

The U.S.

Military strike

On Tuesday, a ship from Venezuela that Trump claimed was carrying illegal drugs was sunk and 11 people were killed.

The Trump administration has tried to link Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government with narcotrafficking at every opportunity, an accusation Caracas strongly denies.

Trump has also accused Maduro specifically of being the leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. His administration had designated this gang as a terrorist group in February.

The Venezuelan Communications Ministry has not responded to a question about F-35s, or allegations that Venezuelan fighter planes flew above a U.S. naval vessel.

Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that the 10 fighter jets were being sent to conduct missions against designated narco terrorist organizations operating in southern Caribbean. They said the planes would arrive by late next week. F-35s, highly advanced stealth aircraft, would be very effective against Venezuelan air forces that include F-16 aircraft.

Two Venezuelan F-16s, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday, flew above the USS Jason Dunham.

Dunham is just one of seven U.S. Warships that are currently deployed in the Caribbean with more than 4,500 sailors, Marines and other personnel. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and U.S. Marines have been conducting amphibious and flight training in southern Puerto Rico.

The buildup put pressure on Maduro who U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called "effectively the kingpin a drug narco-state." Maduro said, in a rare press conference held on Monday in Caracas, that the United States was "seek[ing] a regime-change through military threat."

Hegseth, in remarks to reporters on Thursday, defended the deadly strike of Tuesday and promised that such activities will continue. He cited the threat illegal narcotics present to the public health in the United States.

Hegseth stated that "the poisoning of American people has ended."

Ilhan Omar is a Democrat who represents Minnesota. She condemned Trump's actions, which she described as "lawless", in the southern Caribbean.

Omar stated in a press release that "Congress did not declare war on Venezuela or Tren de Aragón, and the mere designation as a terrorist group does not give a President carte blanche for him to ignore Congress's clear constitutional authority on war and peace." U.S. officials did not explain what the legal basis was for the air strike Tuesday on this boat, or what drugs it contained. Trump claimed on Tuesday that the U.S. Military had identified the crew as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He did not provide any evidence.

(source: Reuters)