Ceiba, Puerto Rico — A U.S. naval base in Puerto Rico that was closed more than 20 years ago is now back in operation as the United States builds up forces in the Caribbean ahead of possible military action against Venezuela.
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads closed in 2004 after having been in operation since 1943. But the Roosevelt Roads base has been reopened and is now one of five locations where U.S. forces are operating in Puerto Rico, an American territory strategically positioned north of Venezuela.
In early September, a source confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. sent 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico for operations targeting drug cartels.
Samuel Rivera Baez, the mayor of Ceiba, the town where the base is located, told CBS News that the F-35s wake him up in the mornings.
“Right now, the United States is the most powerful in the world,” Baez said. “Having them here taking care of us, we feel more than safe.”
The military presence is drawing notice from Puerto Rican locals like Damien Leon.
“I feel tense, kind of anxious not knowing what it going to happen, maybe an attack of someone close,” Leon told CBS News.
This comes as new Pentagon images show a B-52 long-range bomber flying over the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as it steams toward the Caribbean in a provocative display of the American military power that is being staged against Venezuela.
According to a Navy official, as of Friday morning, the U.S. had four military ships in the western Atlantic Ocean, including the USS Gerald R. Ford and three guided missile destroyers. It had another seven military ships in the Caribbean, the official said, which included two guided missile destroyers, two guided missile cruisers, an amphibious assault ship and two amphibious transport dock ships.
As the U.S. conducts live fire exercises in the region, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. wants to remove from power for his alleged ties to drug cartels, spoke out against what he called threats of an invasion.
“Raise your hand if you want Venezuela to become a Yankee colony,” Maduro told a crowd Thursday.
Dating back to early September, the U.S. has also conducted at least 20 strikes in the region on what the White House alleges are drug-trafficking boats, killing at least 80 people.
On Wednesday, senior military officials briefed President Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including strikes on land, according to multiple sources familiar with the meetings at the White House.
On Friday, Mr. Trump held more discussions at the White House on the situation with Venezuela, three sources familiar told CBS News. Among those in the room for those discussions were Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.
It marked at least the third day in a row that senior White House officials held discussions with Mr. Trump on Venezuela, the sources said.
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