US deploys F-35 jets to Puerto Rico amid escalating tensions with Venezuela

Military tension between the United States and Venezuela continues to escalate as five US F-35 fighter jets landed in Puerto Rico, while Caracas slammed the US after it claimed armed personnel on a Navy destroyer raided a fishing boat that was sailing in Venezuelan waters.

News agency Reuters reported that the five US F-35 fighter jets landed on Saturday at the former Roosevelt Roads base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, as part of the deployment ordered by President Donald Trump in the Caribbean to reinforce operations against drug trafficking.

Helicopters, Ospreys and military personnel were also spotted at the base, sparking protests in the area against Puerto Rico's militarisation.

The move came soon after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth paid a surprise visit to the Puerto Rico, and only days after Washington said it had carried out a strike in the souther Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel, operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which departed from Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's foreign ministry slammed the US for after it claimed personnel from a United States Navy Destroyer "illegally and hostilely" boarded a tuna boat that was sailing in Venezuelan waters.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil told reporters that 18 armed personnel remained on the vessel for eight hours and prevented the nine fishermen's normal activities. They then released them under the escort of the Venezuelan navy.

“Those who give the order to carry out such provocations are seeking an incident that would justify a military escalation in the Caribbean,” Gil said, adding that the objective is to “persist in their failed policy” of regime change in Venezuela.

Earlier in the week, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro mobilised the country's armed forces to secure all coastlines along 284 "battlefronts". Thousands of Venezuela's armed forces as well as militiamen took part in manoeuvres as part of "Plan Independencia 200."

Maduro said the move was intended to protect Venezuelan sovereignty in response to the US' moves in nearby waters as part of Donald Trump's stated aim of combatting criminal organisations.