The Donald Trump U.S. administration is deploying additional military assets in the Caribbean targeting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro's regime, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 12th local time.
WSJ said the U.S. Ministry of National Defense recently carried out an airstrike on a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and seized a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude oil, then continued shifting forces.
According to WSJ, F-35A fighter jets, the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, HH-60W rescue helicopters, and HC-130J combat rescue aircraft have been deployed to Puerto Rico. It said aerial refueling aircraft moved to the Dominican Republic.
WSJ said the deployment of aerial refueling aircraft could be used to support long-range operations.
The U.S. military has already deployed 11 warships, MQ-9 Reaper drones, F-35B fighter jets, and P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft to the region, WSJ reported. It said last month's deployment also included the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
Heather Penney, research director at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies (MIAS), told WSJ it was "a force optimized for precise and clandestine strikes."
WSJ also conveyed expert views that the next step for the United States may be the enforcement of an "embargo" to block exports of Venezuelan crude oil rather than actual clashes.
Venezuela, fearing the possibility of a U.S. military strike, is said to have issued internal warnings, WSJ reported. An official at Valencia Airport said anti-aircraft guns were deployed near the runway and storage facilities and that more than 80% of flights in the past two weeks had been canceled.
Port officials said ship operations have almost come to a halt. WSJ said at least 12 container ships and tankers attempted to dock that day but changed course.