The U.S. rhetoric on Venezuela has been increasing over the past several months. Many noteworthy deployments of military forces have been reported throughout the Caribbean region.
El Salvador. On November 7, 2025, Twitter tweets were noting that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have started flights out of El Salvador’s main international airport. These flights are very likely reflective of a military buildup in the Caribbean for an expansion of the regional counternarcotics mission.
Combatant Craft Assault Boats Now in PR. U.S. special operations forces have deployed at least two CCAs to Puerto Rico. Social media posts have depicted images of the CCA’s being unloaded from a C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft at Ponce Airport on 28 Oct 2025. The CCAs are designed to carry out medium-range maritime interdiction missions. These include the insertion and extraction of small special operations teams. They also can conduct coastal patrols in medium- and high-threat environments. The CCA can be configured with a variety of weapons depending on the mission. These include the .50 caliber M2 machine guns, 7.62 mm M240s, or MK19 automatic grenade launchers. “U.S. Special Operations Forces deploy their assault combat boats in Puerto Rico”, ZonaMilitar, November 10, 2025.
C-146A Wolfhound Flies Near Venezuela. An aircraft belonging to U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has recently been flying near Venezuelan airspace. The C-146 is a modified Dornier 328 turboprop and is used for the discreet movement of special forces and sensitive equipment. Some models may have a surveillance capability as well. “US Special Operations Plane Conducts Flight Near Venezuelan Airspace”, Aviation News, November 10, 2025.
Arrival of Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The world’s newest and largest aircraft carrier has arrived in the Carribean – positioning itself amongst other newly arrived military assets that may or may not be part of a future military operation against Venezuela. It left the Mediterranean Sea a few weeks back. Arriving with the Ford are its missile-firing escort ships. Carriers don’t sail the oceans alone – a bunch of other ships small and large travel with it – making it an “aircraft carrier strike group”. That is a lot of combat power assembled just to interdict some fast-moving drug boats. There is probably a little bit of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ going on; perhaps to persuade President (for life?) Maduro to give up power and head into exile to some foreign nation.
MV Ocean Trader. A commercial vessel contracted to the U.S. DoD is in Caribbean waters – making its entrance at some point this early fall. The vessel is used as a support platform for special operations forces.
Venezuela on High Alert. President Maduro has mobilized the country’s military forces and placed the nation on high alert due to what he perceives to be imminent military action to be taken by the United States.
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Map: CIA.
