US deployment in Caribbean ‘not training’, says defence chief Hegseth

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remarks in Puerto Rico come amid escalating tensions with Venezuela in Caribbean.

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told US Marines on board a warship stationed in Puerto Rico that their deployment to the Caribbean was “not training” in the latest sign that Washington intends to escalate its aggressive posture in the region.

Hegseth visited troops on the USS Iwo Jima warship on Monday, where, in reference to the administration’s push to curtail drug trade into the US, he said: “What you’re doing right now is not training; this is a real-world exercise on behalf of the vital national interests of the United States of America to end the poisoning of the American people.”