In a notable development, U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, paid a surprise visit to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico (a U.S. territory). He also visited the U.S. warship USS Iwo Jima, one of the naval vessels recently deployed by Washington to the Caribbean Sea to combat drug trafficking.

Puerto Rico’s importance to the United States revolves around several points:

• Its strategic location provides the U.S. with broad regional influence, in addition to serving as a monitoring point over maritime trade routes and the passages between the Atlantic Ocean and the Panama Canal.
• Hosting military bases and facilities to monitor Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the aim of safeguarding U.S. national security.
• Serving as a source of labor and talent, especially in the fields of arts and sports.

The visit coincides with several developments:

• The renaming of the U.S. Department of Defense to the “Department of War,” which has sparked varying interpretations among political observers—some linking it to Trump’s vision of serving his slogan of “Make America Great Again,” while others associate it with the U.S. perception of China’s growing military capabilities, in addition to the mounting challenges from Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro.
• U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that the American military killed 11 people in a raid on a ship in the southern Caribbean, suspected of carrying a drug shipment that had departed Venezuela.
• The deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico’s to carry out operations against drug cartels in the Caribbean region.

The significance of this visit can be summarized as follows:

• Hegseth’s remarks aboard the USS Iwo Jima demonstrate the seriousness of the current U.S. administration’s approach toward operations against drug cartels.
• The renewed focus on Puerto Rico indicates that U.S. presence will witness a shift from previous norms, especially in light of Washington’s evolving strategies to protect its national security.
• The current developments may be understood as sending a message from the Trump administration to both Congress and the international community: one of the effective means of dealing with smuggling issues is the use of force.