A look at the US military’s unusually large force near Venezuela
December 18, 2025
The U.S. military has amassed an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its anti-drug trafficking operations. In all, U.S. Southern Command says there are around 15,000 troops operating in the area, in the largest military buildup in the region in generations. It is part of the Trump administration’s escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. It includes a series of strikes on alleged drug-running boats that have killed more than 100 people since early September.