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U.S. Assigns Three Destroyers to Caribbean Drug Mission as Maduro Mobilizes Militias

The buildup follows a doubled $50 million U.S. reward for Nicolás Maduro tied to a 2020 drug indictment.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters in Caracas on May 25.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters during a briefing at the White House, on Tuesday, August 19, in Washington, DC.

Overview

  • U.S. officials say the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and USS Sampson have been assigned to waters off Venezuela for counter-narcotics operations, while a Pentagon official told CNN no ships are yet in the area or ordered there.
  • Roughly 4,000 sailors and Marines are expected to support the mission along with additional naval and air assets, with operations planned in international waters and airspace over several months.
  • The White House frames the deployment as part of President Donald Trump’s push to use military power against Latin American cartels designated as terrorist organizations and to curb illicit drug flows.
  • Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced a plan to activate more than 4.5 million militia members and called for arming worker and peasant units, denouncing what he called U.S. threats.
  • Washington recently doubled its reward for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, and Venezuelan officials, including Diosdado Cabello, condemned the U.S. posture as a violation of sovereignty as regional leaders emphasized nonintervention.