Puerto Rico has a long and proud tradition of U.S. military service. Increases in the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean have set the region on edge. According to an ABC article dated Nov. 24, entitled Top U.S. military Adviser Visits Caribbean as Trump Ramps Up Pressure on Venezuela, high level officials from the Pentagon visited troops on the Island during Thanksgiving to thank them for their service. Is this military build-up temporary, and does it presage a larger conflict with Venezuela?

 

In January, in a televised address, broadcast by La Derecha Diario, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro threatened to “liberate Puerto Rico” from the United States. Meanwhile, according to the same Nov. 24th ABC article article, some sources have described the increasing military presence in the Caribbean as part of a campaign against Latin American drug cartels. This includes the relocation of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to southern Puerto Rico for amphibious training, according to an extract from the U.S. Marine Corps website.

 

While the former U.S. naval station, Roosevelt Roads, is being used for logistics, it is not being reopened as a military base. According to an article in El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico’s largest daily newspaper, dated Sept. 18, entitled Jenniffer González Describes Nicolás Maduro as a “Gangster” and Backs Federal Offensive against Venezuela, the runway at Ceiba airport at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base has been used by Osprey V-22 and CH-53K King Stallion aircraft, both from the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

The base was first commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base in 1943. In 1957, Roosevelt Roads was re-designated as a naval station. In March 2004, the U.S. Department of the Navy formally ceased military operations and closed the now former naval station, located on the eastern coast of the Island.

 

Puerto Rico is simply the nearest U.S. jurisdiction to the waterways where military operations are being undertaken, and U.S. investments in logistics and infrastructure continue to grow. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is planning to issue a multimillion-dollar contract for a year’s worth of food for troops in Puerto Rico, according to documents reviewed by The Latino Newsletter. Does this mean that Puerto Rico will be a strategic hub even if tensions with Venezuela are reduced?

 

If the United States does go to war with Venezuela, Puerto Rico is a logical choice as a staging area, but war has not been declared. According to an Associated Press (AP) article dated Nov. 17 entitled Trump Leaves Military Action against Venezuela on the Table but Floats Possible Talks, the White House still describes the current military forays as part of a war on drugs.

 

News outlets around the world are reporting on the situation from several viewpoints. In San Juan, El Nuevo Día reported on Sept. 9 in an article entitled Nicolás Maduro’s challenge to Jennifer González: “If you say you are going to invade Venezuela, come first, on the growing tension between the United States, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

 

Maduro condemned Puerto Rico for aligning itself with the Trump administration and is quoted in the story as saying, “I say to the governor of Puerto Rico: If you say you’re going to invade Venezuela, come first, you hear? You get off the first ship, because Venezuelan women will be waiting for you here.”

Meanwhile, Puerto Rican Gov. Jennifer Gonzalez (R-PR) expressed enthusiastic support for the Trump administration’s offensive against the Maduro government. In the same Sept. 18 El Nuevo Día article described above, she is quoted as saying she supports the public policy of U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “to attack” the Maduro government so that “his drugs do not reach Puerto Rico.”  

 

In an online CNN article dated Dec. 1, entitled Trump’s Threats Bring War with Venezuela Closer as Contradictions and Legal Fears Mount, CNN reported on the suggestion that war is in the offing, writing that “Trump fueled expectations of looming warfare in Venezuela by warning on Thanksgiving Day that the U.S. will ‘very soon’ start taking action to stop alleged drug-trafficking networks on land.”

 

Meanwhile, also on Dec. 1, in a BBC article entitled Tracking Build-up of U.S. Military Planes and Warships near Venezuela, the BCC quotes “an Americas specialist” as saying, “the level of forces, and the fact that they are plainly not tailored for the purpose of pure drug interdiction has raised suspicions the U.S. may be heading towards war with Venezuela.”

 

In a Nov. 30th Miami Herald article entitled White House Gives Maduro Ultimatum as U.S. Moves toward Land Operations, the outlet reported on talks between Washington and Caracas, writing, as Washington prepared to launch land attacks inside Venezuela, a long-awaited phone call between the White House and Caracas aimed at defusing the crisis carried a blunt message for strongman Nicolás Maduro: “You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now.”

 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to claim, according to the same AP article dated Nov. 17 mentioned above that the goal of the military build-up in the Caribbean is to reduce drug trafficking into the United States. According to a Politico article dated Dec. 2, entitled Regime Change is Back. MAGA is Getting Comfortable with it, others believe the ultimate goal in Venezuela is indeed regime change.

 

The effects on Puerto Rico may not be part of the equation for decision makers in Washington. Improvements in infrastructure and an economic boost could have positive effects, but these benefits could come at a high cost. Direct involvement in the conflict would create vulnerability for the Island.

 

Either way, Puerto Rico’s limited voice in Congress makes it harder for the territory to add its perspectives and influence U.S. decision making.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.