The United States has expanded its Caribbean military posture with warships and at least 10 F-35s sent to Puerto Rico, intensifying tensions after two Venezuelan F-16s flew near the USS Jason Dunham in what U.S. officials called a “show of force” amid counter-narcotics operations in international waters. The buildup follows a Sept. 2 strike that Washington said killed 11 suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang on a small boat in the southern Caribbean, an operation U.S. officials framed as the opening of a sustained campaign against cartels; Caracas has denied the claims and denounced the deployments as a threat, while U.S. officials have cited plans for multiple destroyers, maritime patrol aircraft, and an attack submarine operating over coming months. Analysts note Venezuela fields roughly 340,000 personnel and a patchwork arsenal of Russian fighter jets, Iranian drones, legacy French AMX-13 tanks, and a German-made submarine, alongside aging U.S.-supplied F-16s from the 1980s, but faces constraints from economic collapse, sanctions, and reported morale and coordination problems that would weigh against sustained high-end operations. The latest naval movements accelerated in late August, with reports of seven to eight U.S. warships in the region, as both sides traded warnings over sovereignty, counter-narcotics aims, and the risks of escalation near Venezuelan waters