The United States is dispatching three Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyers—the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and USS Sampson—to international waters off Venezuela within 36 hours, according to U.S. officials cited by Reuters. The deployment marks the most visible element of President Donald Trump’s stepped-up campaign against Latin American drug cartels, which Washington now labels terrorist organisations. Roughly 4,000 sailors and Marines will take part in the operation, which also involves several P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, at least one nuclear-powered attack submarine and additional surface combatants. U.S. officials said the naval force could remain in the southern Caribbean for months, gathering intelligence, interdicting trafficking routes and serving as a platform for potential targeted strikes if ordered. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the administration is prepared to use “every element of American power” to curb narcotics flows, insisting that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is “not a legitimate president” but the head of a narcotics cartel. Earlier this month Washington doubled to US$50 million the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on U.S. drug-trafficking charges. Maduro responded in a televised address by ordering the mobilisation of 4.5 million members of Venezuela’s civilian militia and imposing a 30-day nationwide ban on civilian drone flights. Vowing to defend the country’s “seas, skies and lands,” he condemned the U.S. naval build-up as the “outlandish threat of a declining empire,” underscoring the sharp escalation in tensions between Caracas and Washington.