U.S. Warship Set To Conduct Military Drills In Country Less Than 10 Miles From Venezuela

Trinidad and Tobago, a country located less than 10 miles from Venezuela, announced that a U.S. destroyer will arrive in the country on Sunday to conduct military drills as the Trump administration escalates pressure on Caracas.

The drills will take place between October 26 and 30, with the Caribbean country noting that the development "highlights the U.S.'s commitment to regional security and cooperation in the Caribbean."

The drills come as the Trump administration continues to pressure Venezuela's authoritarian regime with strikes against alleged drug vessels off its coast. The latest one took place on Friday, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming it killed six people linked to the Tren de Aragua gang.

Hegseth posted that the strike, conducted in international waters "at the direction of President Trump," struck a vessel "operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization," and that "six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike..."

"All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed," he added. "If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda...Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you."

A tally based on U.S. statements showed that before the latest strike the U.S. campaign had already accounted for 37 fatalities across nine prior operations since early September. Those earlier incidents included strikes in the Caribbean and, more recently, the eastern Pacific. Officials have said the targets were vessels transiting known narcotrafficking routes and that operations have taken place in international waters.

Among the prior operations, U.S. officials acknowledged a notable shift when one strike was reported off the Colombian Pacific coast on Tuesday— the first time the campaign was publicly tied to waters outside the Caribbean — and at least one earlier target was described by U.S. authorities that same day as linked to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian guerrilla group.

The U.S. has also been moving vessels and aircraft close to the South American country. Flight-tracking data showed that two U.S. B-1 Lancer bombers flew to within six nautical miles of Venezuela on Thursday.

FlightRadar24 data showed that two B-1s operating under the callsign BARB21 departed Dyess Air Force Base in Texas and flew east through the Caribbean to areas off Venezuela's Isla de Margarita and Los Testigos islands before turning north.

The flight came about a week after B-52s flew a similar maritime corridor during a Pentagon-described "bomber attack demo" that included Marine F-35s. The U.S. military has concentrated an unusually large force in the Caribbean and off South America, including eight warships, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 drones, an F-35 squadron and at least one submarine.