Puerto Rico becomes launchpad for growing US military ops in Caribbean
5 Min Read
The US military presence in Puerto Rico expands under the Trump administration, turning Caribbean islands into key outposts in a growing drug war.
-
US Marines' Lockheed Martin F-35 B jets arrive in formation at Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport, formerly Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Sept. 13, 2025 (AFP Photo)
Once overrun by rust and weeds, the former US Navy base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, is roaring back to life, not as a civilian development project, but as a key launchpad for renewed US militarization in the Caribbean.
Bloomberg reported that amid an alleged anti-narcotics campaign directed at Venezuela and Colombia, the Trump administration has revived the Roosevelt Roads base, a historically contentious site, transforming it into a forward-operating hub for warplanes, surveillance aircraft, and rapid troop deployments. The move has drawn alarm across the region and intensified fears in Puerto Rico, where communities still bear the scars of past US military occupation.
US expands military footprint under pretext of drug war
The Pentagon has remained opaque about the full extent of its Caribbean buildup. But reports and satellite imagery reveal a powerful fleet: guided-missile destroyers, shallow-water combat vessels, and amphibious assault groups, all stationed near Venezuelan waters. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy’s most powerful aircraft carrier, is also reportedly heading toward the region.
The operations are being carried out under the guise of counter-narcotics efforts. US Southern Command describes the initiative as a strategic deployment to disrupt trafficking routes through the Caribbean, which it claims are exploited by smugglers.
Yet the militarization of these waters and the transformation of Caribbean territories into staging grounds raise far deeper questions. What lies behind the reactivation of a once-decommissioned base? And what is the long-term cost for the people of the region?
Roosevelt Roads
The 8,700-acre Roosevelt Roads complex, once the US Navy’s largest overseas base, was decommissioned in 2004 following decades of protests, particularly over military exercises on the nearby island of Vieques. That struggle, which saw arrests of high-profile activists and the wounding of local ecosystems and communities, forced the Pentagon to abandon its plans, or so it seemed.
Today, fighter jets like the F-35B, tilt-rotor Ospreys, and C-17 Globemasters once again occupy the runways. The José Aponte de la Torre Airport, which had been used only sparingly by Puerto Rico’s National Guard, has now become an active military airfield.
Army veteran and local resident Monisha Ríos, whose home overlooks the base, has been monitoring the renewed air traffic. “We’re murdering people in international waters,” she said, referring to recent US strikes on vessels allegedly involved in drug smuggling.
Since early September, Washington has claimed responsibility for 14 such strikes, resulting in the deaths of over 60 people, reportedly Venezuelans, Colombians, and Trinidadians. None were given a chance to face trial.
Caribbean pushback and regional division
While Washington's regional partners, such as Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, have quietly offered logistical support, many in the Caribbean view the US escalation with unease. A recent declaration by 14 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining the region as a “zone of peace,” urging that security issues be addressed within the framework of international law.
Puerto Rico, as a US territory, was not a party to the declaration. Nor was Trinidad, whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, breaking ranks with CARICOM, praised the US offensive and declared that drug traffickers “deserved to be killed violently.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once ordered the construction of the base in 1940 to serve as the Caribbean’s "Pearl Harbor." The island of Vieques, within sight of Rosy Roads, was used for decades as a live-fire testing ground, despite the health and environmental damage it caused. Protests were met with arrests and surveillance. Among those arrested: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.
When the base closed in 2004, it was returned to Puerto Rican authorities, and grand plans were floated: a luxury resort, a marina, even a spaceport. None materialized. Instead, the area became another symbol of US neglect: its facilities gutted, its buildings looted, its runways idle.
Rejection of US actions
For people like Ríos, the revival of Rosy Roads is not just a policy shift, it's a provocation. Her vision of turning the site into a health hub to serve neighboring Vieques and Culebra is being bulldozed by Pentagon ambitions.
“If I were still on active duty,” she said, “I would be refusing orders right now.”
Beyond Puerto Rico, Washington’s intensifying military posture raises concerns of escalation. President Trump has openly entertained the idea of launching attacks on Venezuela's mainland. He has also granted the CIA authority to act against President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US labels a terrorist leader.
As the Caribbean becomes an increasingly volatile arena for US power projection, the region's small nations and territories, like Puerto Rico, are once again being conscripted into someone else’s war.
Read more: Venezuela asks UN to declare US strikes illegal, cites civilian deaths
