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By Amira El-Fekki
Middle East News Reporter
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Satellite imagery showed a surge of U.S. air power at the former Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads, near Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
Eight F-35 fighters, two C-17 transports, and a KC-130 tanker are deployed as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group transit toward the region, signaling preparations for a potential major operation in the Southern Caribbean.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) for comment.
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Why It Matters
Puerto Rico is emerging as a central staging as the United States is redirecting its military attention toward Latin America and the Caribbean amid President Donald Trump’s expanding campaign against Venezuelan-linked drug cartels. The military launched strikes last month on boats in the Caribbean Sea, which U.S. officials said were linked to Latin American drug‑trafficking organizations.
In October, the White House sent a confidential notice to Congress stating the U.S. is in a "non‑international armed conflict" with certain designated terrorist organizations. U.S. senators and analysts are questioning the Caribbean campaign, citing concerns over sovereignty, maritime law, and the broader foreign policy impact. However, Senate Republicans voted down a resolution aimed at preventing U.S. strikes on boats the Trump administration says are transporting narcotics off the coast of Venezuela.
What To Know
A satellite image captured Sunday by provider SkiFi and analyzed by open-source intelligence researcher M.T. Anderson showed high-value U.S. air assets deployed at José Aponte de la Torre Airport—the former Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The lineup featured F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters, C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift transports, and a KC-130 aircraft capable of refueling or supporting combat operations, the analyst noted in a post on his X account.
The U.S. military's upgrading of the long-abandoned base suggests preparations for "sustained operations that could help support possible actions inside Venezuela," according to a Reuters visual investigation report published Sunday.
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, conceived in 1919 by then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base in 1943 during World War II and redesignated a Naval Station in 1957 during the Cold War. Covering 8,650 acres with a major airfield and deep-water port, it remained fully operational until its closure in March 2004.
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Meanwhile, The USS Gerald R. Ford has entered Atlantic waters under U.S. Southern Command’s purview, leading a strike group that includes destroyers and cruisers armed with Tomahawk missiles as the Pentagon projects naval power into the Caribbean.
U.S. strikes on boats have totaled 16, killing 66, with the latest announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday against a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific, The Associated Press reported.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X Tuesday: "U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the #SOUTHCOM mission, @DeptofWar-directed operations, and @POTUS' priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland."
Christopher Hernandez-Roy, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, told Reuters Sunday: "All of these things are, I think, designed to scare the pants off the Maduro regime and the generals around him, with the hope that it will create fissures."
What Happens Next
Trump did not confirm whether he was considering land strikes in Venezuela against suspected cartel strongholds as the stakes for a military confrontation are rising.
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