President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to deploy three guided-missile destroyers, an amphibious ready group led by the USS Iwo Jima and at least one nuclear submarine to waters off Venezuela, expanding a Caribbean operation aimed at disrupting drug-trafficking networks. U.S. officials say roughly 6,700 sailors and Marines are involved, and the White House has signaled it is prepared to use “all its power” to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States. The naval contingent includes the destroyers USS Jason Dunham, USS Sampson and USS Gravely, each capable of launching Tomahawk missiles, along with the amphibious ships USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale. Maritime patrol aircraft P-8 Poseidon are providing surveillance support. Washington has designated Venezuela’s “Cartel of the Suns” a terrorist organization and recently doubled to $50 million the reward for information leading to President Nicolás Maduro’s capture. Caracas has denounced the buildup as a pretext for intervention. Maduro said more than 5,300 “Peace Quadrants” have been activated across 5,336 local circuits, and state media broadcast enlistment drives for the Bolivarian Militia. Senior officials, including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, called the U.S. move an attempt to fabricate a crisis, while urging regional support for the 2014 CELAC declaration of Latin America as a “zone of peace.”