The United States military is upgrading a long-abandoned former Cold War-era naval base in the Caribbean, indicating preparations for sustained operations that could support possible actions in Venezuela. This is reported by UNN with reference to the results of a visual investigation by Reuters.
Details
Construction work at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, closed by the Navy more than 20 years ago, was underway on September 17, as crews began clearing and repaving taxiways leading to the runway, according to photos taken by Reuters.
Before the Navy withdrew from the facility in 2004, Roosevelt Roads was one of the largest U.S. naval bases in the world. The base occupies a strategic location and offers ample space for equipment staging, one U.S. official said.
In addition to upgrading landing and takeoff capabilities at Roosevelt Roads, the U.S. is building facilities at civilian airports in Puerto Rico and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. These two U.S. territories are located approximately 500 miles from Venezuela.
Reuters spoke with three U.S. military officials and three maritime experts who said the new construction in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands indicates preparations that could allow the U.S. military to conduct operations inside Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. hopes to remove him from power.
All of this, I think, is designed to scare the Maduro regime and the generals around him, hoping that it will create cracks
To monitor U.S. military activity in the region over the past two months, Reuters photographed U.S. military bases and reviewed satellite imagery, ship and flight tracking data, and social media posts. The news agency also tracked the movement of U.S. military vessels using ground reports and open-source photos and videos.
The military buildup in the region is the largest non-disaster relief related since 1994, when the United States sent two aircraft carriers and more than 20,000 troops to Haiti for Operation Uphold Democracy.
Since early September, the United States has launched at least 14 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing 61 people.
Strikes on suspected drug vessels have heightened tensions with Venezuela and Colombia and drawn attention to a part of the world that has received limited resources from the U.S. armed forces in recent years.
Addition
U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he does not plan to strike facilities in Venezuela used for drug smuggling. He made this statement amid reports that the administration was considering the possibility of airstrikes.