Pentagon Chief Makes Surprise Visit to Puerto Rico Amid Rising Tensions with Venezuela

(Patria) - Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth made a surprise visit to Puerto Rico on Monday, officials said, as the United States uses military forces it has deployed in the region to target drug cartels, AFP reported.

Hegseth was accompanied by a high-ranking US military officer, General Dan Caine, and they were welcomed by Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, the territory's governor, who announced the visit in a post on social media X.

She thanked President Donald Trump "and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has for the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere, carried out by narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro."

The United States claims that the leftist Venezuelan leader Maduro leads a cocaine trafficking cartel and recently doubled his reward to fifty million dollars in exchange for his arrest to face drug charges.

A Pentagon official confirmed that Hegseth traveled to Puerto Rico but did not provide further details.

The visit comes about a week after the United States carried out an attack on a drug smuggling ship from Venezuela, an action that Trump said left eleven alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang dead.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have since escalated after the Pentagon accused Venezuela of flying over its ships in the Caribbean following the deadly attack, while Maduro also condemned the buildup of US military forces in the region.

Eight US Navy ships are involved in anti-narcotics efforts in Latin America - seven in the Caribbean and one in the Pacific, while Washington is also sending ten high-tech F-35 aircraft to Puerto Rico.

Trump promised on Friday to shoot down Venezuelan military aircraft if they pose a danger to US forces, and Maduro subsequently called for dialogue with Washington.

Drug smuggling ships are usually intercepted and their crews arrested after they are identified, making the US attack on alleged drug traffickers an extremely rare event. The Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization this year, and the use of lethal force against alleged members of the group without due process reflects US actions against alleged militants during its years-long "War on Terror".

US officials, including Hegseth, have said that attacks targeting drug cartels will continue.