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U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth connected Wednesday (November 26, 2025) volition sojourn the Dominican Republic, a adjacent U.S. Caribbean ally, for talks connected combating cause trafficking amid a standoff betwixt Washington and Venezuela, officials said.
The Pentagon confirmed the visit, which comes arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up unit connected his Venezuelan counterpart and arch-foe Nicolas Maduro, accused by Washington of heading a cause cartel.
Mr. Hegseth's bureau said Tuesday (November 25) helium would conscionable with Dominican President Luis Abinader, his Defence Minister and different furniture members "to fortify defence relationships and reaffirm America's committedness to support the homeland, support our determination partners and guarantee stableness and information crossed the Americas."
The announcement came a time aft the United States designated an alleged Venezuelan cause cartel, Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), arsenic a overseas violent organization.
The FTO designation gives the Trump medication ineligible screen for much enactment against Venezuelan authorities.
The Venezuelan authorities connected Tuesday organised an anti-U.S. march done the superior Caracas successful protestation of the designation.
Mr. Maduro gave a code astatine the rally portion holding Venezuelan independency leader Simon Bolivar's "Sword of Peru," telling the assemblage that the state faces a "decisive juncture" requiring nationalist unity.
"There is nary excuse for anyone, whether civilian, politician, subject oregon constabulary officer. Failure is not an option! The federation demands our top effort and sacrifice," helium told supporters.
Washington has meantime besides ramped up subject unit connected Caracas, deploying the world's biggest craft bearer to the area, on with a raft of warships.
Caracas accuses Washington of utilizing its warfare connected drugs arsenic a screen for an cognition aimed astatine toppling the firebrand Maduro.
"They ever invent a scenario, similar the script they invented with (Saddam) Hussein, with (Muammar) Gaddafi, to destruct these people, these countries," Candido Miquilarena, a 63-year-old assemblage person astatine the Caracas march, told AFP.
U.S. strikes connected a drawstring of alleged cause boats successful the Caribbean and Pacific person near dozens dormant since September.
The Dominican Republic has been cooperating with the U.S. operations.
Authorities successful the country, which shares the land of Hispaniola with Haiti, announced earlier this period that they had seized astir 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cocaine from a vessel intercepted during a associated cognition with U.S. forces.
"We proceed moving with the United States due to the fact that this is simply a pugnacious fight, particularly successful immoderate countries, chiefly successful South America, that person seen an summation successful cause production, peculiarly cocaine," Abinader said Tuesday.
