(U.S., 24th) The Wall Street Journal reported on the 23rd that the United States has increased the deployment of several special operations aircraft to the Caribbean and has transported U.S. military personnel and equipment, further increasing pressure on the Venezuelan government.
The report, citing a U.S. official, stated that at least 10 CV-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor aircraft used by special operations forces arrived in the Caribbean from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico on the evening of the 22nd. According to flight tracking website data, on the same day, C-17 transport planes from Fort Stewart, Georgia, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, arrived in Puerto Rico. Another U.S. official confirmed that these aircraft carried U.S. military personnel and equipment.
The report noted that it remains unclear how many personnel and pieces of equipment were transported, but multiple U.S. special operations units are stationed at the above military bases.
In recent months, under the pretext of “counter-narcotics,” the United States has deployed several warships in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela to apply pressure on the country. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to soon use ground forces to strike at Venezuela’s “drug traffickers.”