If this does not constitute a harbinger of a new endless U.S. war, then what does it show…?
Visual material reveals that the United States Army has reopened—after more than 20 years—and has been steadily upgrading since September, an old naval base that had been abandoned since the Cold War era in the Caribbean.
The material, transmitted by Reuters, proves preparations not for a war on drugs but for something far more alarming: continuous military operations within Venezuela, and possibly within any Latin American country.
Until its withdrawal in 2004, the U.S. Navy’s Roosevelt Roads base was one of the largest U.S. naval bases in the world.
The upgrade/reconstruction work at Roosevelt Roads Base in Puerto Rico, which had been shut down by the Navy more than 20 years ago, began on September 17, when crews started clearing and resurfacing the roads leading to the airstrip.
The two U.S. territories are located approximately 500 miles from Venezuela.
The base occupies a strategic position and offers vast space for equipment concentration, stated an American official.
In addition to improving landing and takeoff capabilities at Roosevelt Roads, the United States is constructing facilities at civilian airports in Puerto Rico and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Reuters spoke with three U.S. military officials and three maritime experts, who stated that the new construction in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands indicates preparations that could allow the U.S. military to conduct operations within Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the United States hopes to remove him from power.
"All these things, I think, are designed to frighten Maduro’s regime and the generals around him, in the hope of creating cracks," said Christopher Hernandez-Roy, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
To monitor U.S. military activity in the region over the past two months, Reuters photographed U.S. military bases and examined satellite imagery, ship and flight tracking data, and social media posts.
The agency also tracked U.S. naval ship movements through on-site reporting, photos, and videos from open sources.
This military buildup is the largest unrelated to humanitarian aid since 1994, when the United States deployed two aircraft carriers and over 20,000 troops to Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy.
Hot August
The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean began in August with the arrival of warships, a nuclear-powered submarine, fighter jets, and reconnaissance aircraft.
The Gerald Ford carrier group, with about 10,000 troops and dozens of aircraft and weapons systems, moved off the coast of Venezuela from the Adriatic Sea.
One of Ford’s destroyers passed through Gibraltar on October 29, according to satellite imagery and ship tracking data.
The Pentagon did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the visual material.
The Governor of Puerto Rico also declined to comment.
When asked about the military expansion in the area, the White House stated that President Donald Trump had promised during his campaign to take action against drug cartels in the region.
"He has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narco-terrorism that has led to the needless deaths of innocent Americans," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly in a statement to Reuters.
Upgrading the military bases in the Caribbean
Some of the most spectacular upgrades are taking place at Roosevelt Roads Base, which, according to analysts, will enable the use of both fighter jets and cargo aircraft.
Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and Senior Adviser at CSIS, said the changes are consistent with preparations for increased military aircraft landings and takeoffs.
In addition to runway renovations, Reuters observed the installation of mobile aviation support infrastructure and other security equipment.
Satellite images taken on October 29 show 20 new tents southeast of the runway near an abandoned aircraft hangar.
Hernandez-Roy, the CSIS fellow, told the agency that it is possible the U.S. military is merely repairing potholes, but it certainly did not stop there.
He added: "If your focus is now on the Western Hemisphere, it makes perfect sense to reopen what was once a massive naval base and make sure it can host the full range of U.S. military aircraft."
Significant changes were also detected at Rafael Hernandez Airport, the second busiest civilian airport in Puerto Rico.
By mid-October, the U.S. military had installed communication equipment and a mobile air traffic control tower, typically used to coordinate increased aircraft traffic in war zones or after disasters.
Mobile air traffic control towers are used to coordinate a larger number of aircraft entering and exiting an area, according to military experts.
Satellite images show the construction of ammunition storage facilities at the airport, although experts said it is not yet clear what type of weapons might be stored there.
"This is very significant," said Cancian.
"They could be used soon for an operation against Venezuela... this shows they are preparing for something like that."
However, he acknowledged that the facility could also indicate long-term counter-cartel planning, though the design appears too heavy-duty for such an operation.
On the nearby island of St. Croix, satellite images taken in September and October also show construction activity at a civilian airport.
Images from Henry E. Rohlsen Airport show active construction near the area where airplanes are parked and serviced.
Improvements in aircraft parking areas could allow more U.S. military aircraft to be stationed and refueled, according to U.S. officials speaking to Reuters.
A video recorded by a local resident shows a new radar system at the airport.
Albert Bryan Jr., Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, stated that while there was coordination with the U.S. military regarding troop deployments on the ground, his office did not have access to operational details or future plans of these missions.
"He believes the U.S. military’s regional presence enhances security and deters drug and arms trafficking across the territory," the statement read.
Hernandez-Roy of CSIS added that the changes may be aimed at supporting the large number of U.S. aircraft entering the region.
The upgrades may also help close radar monitoring gaps, should drug traffickers shift from ships to aircraft.
"The one radar coverage gap, which has been a long-standing issue for catching drug flights, is actually over Haiti, and it’s like a big black hole," added Hernandez-Roy.
According to the U.S. Department of State, Haiti is used as a transit point for transporting cocaine and marijuana from South America to the United States.
The Haitian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Naval power off the coast of Venezuela
An increase in U.S. naval forces off Venezuela’s coast is also underway and intensifying.
According to U.S. officials, the Trump administration since August has deployed at least 13 warships, five support ships, and one nuclear-powered submarine to the area from various naval bases and global deployments, including the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the largest of its kind.
Eight warships remain in the area, along with support vessels.
In addition, a former commercial vessel, the MV Ocean Trader, has been observed docking in Puerto Rico, St. Croix, and near the Venezuelan coast.
Although little public data exists on the MV Ocean Trader, experts widely believe it is linked to U.S. Special Forces.
Brent Sadler, a naval security expert at the Heritage Foundation, said the ship is capable of deploying helicopters used by special operations forces and may also be used for troop landings.
Reuters identified the ship in satellite images 53 miles from Saint Kitts in late September, but could not determine when it was deployed to the region.
It was last observed docking in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in late October.
Three guided missile destroyers, the USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely, and USS Stockdale, have also been deployed to the Caribbean, along with support vessels including two refueling tankers, USNS Kanawha, and USNS Joshua Humphreys, a hospital ship, USNS Comfort, and a submarine navigation test vessel, USNS Waters.
Loaded... aircraft carriers
Along with the Ford carrier, which can host more than 75 military aircraft, the Pentagon has deployed 10 advanced F-35 fighters and spy planes, according to a previous Reuters report.
In late October, the U.S. Air Force conducted supersonic bomber flights from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, and Grand Forks Air Base in North Dakota, near the Venezuelan coast, according to flight tracking data.
On October 15, three B-52 bombers took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana, and flew around the Venezuelan coast before returning to base, the data show.
Since early September, the United States has carried out at least 14 attacks against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing 61 people.
These attacks on suspected drug ships have heightened tensions with Venezuela and Colombia and have drawn attention to a region that has received limited U.S. military resources in recent years.
However, the U.S. military buildup in the region has reached new heights, and the pieces of the puzzle now appear to be in place for operations within Venezuela, something President Donald Trump mentioned last Thursday:
“The land will be next.”
And as things appear, it won’t end there...
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