In a dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement in Latin America, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine made an unannounced trip to Puerto Rico on Monday, September 8, 2025. The visit, revealed by Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González-Colón via social media, arrives as the Trump administration intensifies its military efforts to counter drug cartels in the Caribbean and Latin America—a campaign that has drawn both fervent support and fierce criticism, and which many see as a return to Cold War-era interventionism.
Governor González-Colón, a Republican, did not mince words in her public statement. Thanking President Trump for "recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere, perpetuated by narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro," she added, "We are proud to support America First policies that secure our borders and combat illicit activities to protect Americans and our homeland." According to reporting from The Hill, the Pentagon did not announce the high-level visit in advance and declined to comment when asked for details.
The surprise trip follows a series of military maneuvers in the region. Over the past several weeks, the U.S. has deployed a formidable array of assets to the Caribbean: at least eight warships, an attack submarine, and more than 4,000 sailors and Marines. Just days before Hegseth and Caine touched down, ten F-35 fighter jets arrived in Puerto Rico, reportedly tasked with targeting so-called "narco-terrorist organizations." As Reuters first reported, the Pentagon is considering using Puerto Rico as a base for operations against drug cartels, including the possibility of launching military flights from the U.S. territory.
The immediate catalyst for this surge came last week, when President Trump claimed that a U.S. military strike on a boat in the Caribbean killed eleven drug smugglers. The vessel, Trump asserted, was ferrying narcotics from Venezuela to the United States. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has flatly denied the accusation. Despite the gravity of the claim, U.S. officials have yet to provide evidence about who or what was on the boat. The lack of transparency has only fueled controversy, especially among critics who question the legality and motives behind the strike.
Vice President Vance, echoing the administration's hardline stance, declared on social media, "Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military." Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials have signaled that similar operations could follow. Tensions with Venezuela, already sky-high, ratcheted up further on September 4, when the Pentagon accused the Venezuelan military of a "highly provocative" act after its fighter jets flew near a U.S. Navy warship.
While the Trump administration frames its actions as necessary to protect Americans from the scourge of narcotics, critics see something far more familiar—and troubling. According to Common Dreams, the administration’s approach is a revival of the so-called Kirkpatrick Doctrine, a Cold War policy that prioritized U.S. economic and geopolitical interests in Latin America, often at the expense of democracy and human rights. The doctrine, named after former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick, justified support for authoritarian regimes that aligned with Washington, while undermining or sanctioning left-wing leaders—even those democratically elected.
This philosophy, Common Dreams argues, has been resurrected in the Trump era. The administration has not shied away from deploying military force against "subversive forces"—a term critics say is often applied selectively. The U.S. has been accused of supporting coups, such as the 2019 ouster of Evo Morales in Bolivia and the failed Silvercorp operation in Venezuela. Right-wing leaders like Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Javier Milei in Argentina, Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador have received Washington’s backing, while leftist leaders including Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil, Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico, Gustavo Petro in Colombia, and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela have faced sanctions, tariffs, and economic isolation.
The economic stakes are enormous. U.S. oil giants such as ExxonMobil and Chevron have played a pivotal role in shaping Venezuela policy, with American-backed opposition groups reportedly offering oil rights to U.S. corporations. The region’s vast reserves of oil, gas, and critical minerals like lithium and copper have made it a battleground for global influence, with China and Russia increasingly vying for a foothold. Washington’s response has been to pressure Latin American governments to shun Chinese and Russian weapons, block trade deals in yuan, and resist Belt and Road infrastructure projects. The Trump administration has also pushed back against efforts to diversify away from the U.S. dollar, targeting Chinese banking expansion across the continent.
Supporters of the administration argue that these moves are essential for national security and economic stability. As González-Colón put it, Puerto Rico’s role in the fight against drug cartels is a matter of protecting the homeland. The administration’s defenders see the use of military force as a justified response to the deadly toll of narcotics trafficking, and a necessary measure to counter the growing influence of China and Russia in the Western Hemisphere.
But detractors, especially progressive voices, warn of a dangerous return to the interventionist policies that defined much of the 20th century. They point to the human cost of previous U.S. campaigns in Latin America, from the "Banana Wars" to Cold War-era support for dictatorships and paramilitary groups. Common Dreams highlights the long history of U.S.-backed military and police forces in the region being implicated in human rights abuses—most notoriously in Colombia, where U.S.-funded units were involved in the "False Positives" scandal, killing civilians and claiming they were guerrilla fighters.
The recent strike on the Venezuelan boat has become a flashpoint in this broader debate. While the administration insists the operation targeted drug traffickers linked to criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua, critics argue that the lack of evidence and disregard for Venezuelan sovereignty raise serious legal and ethical questions. Some members of Congress are slated to receive a classified briefing on the incident, and calls for greater oversight are growing louder.
This is not the first time Puerto Rico has found itself at the center of a major U.S. military buildup. In 2017, following the devastation wrought by hurricanes Maria and Irma, roughly 14,000 American troops were deployed to the island to assist with disaster relief. This time, however, the mission is overtly military and aimed at projecting power across the Caribbean and Latin America.
Meanwhile, the region’s political landscape is shifting. As South America emerges as a global breadbasket and a source of critical minerals, the competition for influence—and profit—has only intensified. The Trump administration’s willingness to use military and economic leverage to maintain U.S. dominance has drawn comparisons to both the Monroe Doctrine and the brash interventionism of the Reagan era. Whether this strategy will succeed, or provoke a backlash that accelerates the rise of a multipolar order, remains to be seen.
For now, Puerto Rico stands at the crossroads of history once again, its strategic location making it a focal point in the latest chapter of U.S. engagement with Latin America—a chapter marked by old doctrines, new ambitions, and a region whose future is anything but certain.