The US has ordered the deployment of ten fighter jets to join the fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean, according to two sources briefed on the matter.
The F-35s will bolster the already beefed-up US military presence there, following a pledge by US President Donald Trump to crack down on gangs he says are funnelling drugs to America.
According to Reuters, the 10 jets are being sent to conduct operations against designated narco-terrorist organisations operating in the southern Caribbean – and should arrive in the area by late next week.
They will be based at an airfield in Puerto Rico.
It is a move likely to further inflame tensions in the region as it comes three days after US forces attacked a boat that Trump said was carrying “massive amounts of drugs” from Venezuela, killing 11 people.
The strike appeared to set the stage for a sustained military campaign in Latin America.
During a visit to Ecuador on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “We’re not just going to hunt for drug dealers or their little fast boats and say let’s try to arrest them.
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“No…the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.”
The US has deployed seven warships and one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines in the southern Caribbean in recent weeks.
US Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
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The build-up has put pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who Mr Rubio described as “a narcotrafficker”.
“He is a fugitive of US justice,” he added. “He’s not the legitimate leader of Venezuela. We never recognised him. He is an indicted fugitive causing trouble in the region.”
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But Mr Maduro, at a rare news conference in Caracas this week, said the United States was “seeking a regime change through military threat”.
US officials have not said what legal justification was used for Tuesday’s air strike on the boat or what drugs were on board.
