SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday as the US steps up its military operations against drug cartels in the Caribbean.
Their arrival in the US territory comes more than a week after ships carrying hundreds of US marines deployed to Puerto Rico for a training exercise, a move that some on the island have criticized.
Puerto Rico’s Gov. Jenniffer González said Hegseth and Caine visited on behalf of President Donald Trump’s administration to support those participating in the training.
“We thank President Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic importance of Puerto Rico to US national security and for their fight against drug cartels and the narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro,” González said.
Hegseth and Caine met with officials at the 156th Wing Muñiz Air National Guard Base in Carolina, a city just east of the capital of San Juan.
