The United States has reinforced its naval presence in the southern Caribbean, ordering a total of seven warships carrying roughly 4,500 personnel—among them 2,200 Marines—to waters off Venezuela. According to sources cited by Reuters and Axios, the contingent includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News and an amphibious group built around the assault ship USS Iwo Jima. Washington says the build-up is aimed at disrupting Latin American drug cartels and has doubled a reward for the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, whom the White House describes as the fugitive head of the so-called Cartel de los Soles. Caracas has condemned the deployment as a threat to regional security. Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López said Venezuelan naval units were being dispatched to the Gulf of Venezuela, while Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced the activation of “Peace Zones” in the border states of Táchira and Zulia, backed by about 15,000 troops. Venezuela’s UN envoy Samuel Moncada delivered a formal complaint to Secretary-General António Guterres, arguing that the US operation violates the UN Charter and introduces nuclear-capable assets into the Caribbean. Reactions across Latin America are mixed. Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has publicly welcomed the US flotilla and offered logistical support if Venezuela threatens neighbouring Guyana. By contrast, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated her country’s constitutional policy against any foreign intervention, and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro—while sending 25,000 soldiers to the Catatumbo frontier to curb cross-border smuggling—insisted that “no Latin American should call for an invasion.” Analysts and former officials quoted by AP and other outlets say the scale of the US deployment is unusual for an anti-narcotics mission, fuelling speculation over possible coercive pressure on Maduro’s government. The Pentagon has not indicated any plan for a land incursion, but the presence of amphibious ships keeps that option open. Meanwhile, both the Venezuelan government and parts of the domestic opposition are using the standoff to rally supporters, deepening uncertainty in a region already on edge.