U.S. military

It's a stark flex of American military power not seen in Latin America for generations. Some experts foresee warplanes catapulting off the USS Gerald R Ford to strike targets in Venezuela unless authoritarian President Nicholas Maduro resigns.

The Trump administration has developed a range of options for military action in Venezuela, including direct attacks on military units that protect President Nicolás Maduro and moves to seize control of the country’s oil fields, according to multiple U.S. officials.

The military commander overseeing the Pentagon’s escalating attacks against boats in the Caribbean Sea that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs is stepping down, three U.S. officials said Thursday.

The country finds itself entangled in the net of a geopolitical face-off between the United States and Venezuela. Only about seven miles separate Trinidad and Venezuela at their closest point. Dozens of fishermen worry that their boat could be mistaken for a drug-smuggling vessel.

Residents say drug trafficking and fishing are common, but the strike has halted local spending. Fishermen claim they don't transport drugs but understand why some do, as fishing alone leads to poverty.

A Defense Department spokesperson told PolitiFact that the U.S. is not currently engaged in a war, nor does the U.S. military have service members fighting in any active war zones. However, some U.S. military service members are stationed in areas the U.S. government recognizes as combat zones.

Four-star U.S. Army General Laura Richardson is the commander of U.S. Southern Command in South Florida, overseeing Latin America and the Caribbean for the Department of Defense. She tells WLRN about her journey in the military and the response to the Haiti crisis.

The Department of Defense announced the move that is widely seen as a way to deter China's influence in the region amid a visit to the Philippines by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The defense bill provision could move military one step closer to historic changes that will impact how its sexual assault cases are prosecuted. On Thursday, the House passed the bill, 350-80.

Classroom teachers, members of the military and first responders could receive higher homestead property-tax exemptions under a measure state lawmakers could put before voters in November.

The Pentagon said no final decision has been made, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wanted U.S. forces to be ready "just in case" of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Military officials say that, after months of warnings, they have begun disciplinary actions. The Army has reprimanded 2,700 soldiers and said it will begin discharge proceedings in the new year.