Henry Ziemer, associate fellow for the Americas at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): “The current U.S. naval deployment to the Southern Caribbean is plainly mismatched for counter-narcotics missions. Guided missile cruisers and attack submarines certainly have powerful capabilities, particularly sensors, which can be brought to bear to detect and interdict drug trafficking shipments, but there are other platforms that can achieve similar effects with a much lower profile. Accordingly, the primary intention seems to be signaling clearly that the United States considers organized crime to be a national security issue meriting the deployment of military force. However, the large concentration of naval assets in the region has raised speculation the United States may take direct military action against Venezuela. Some key developments to watch for in this regard include whether the United States deploys additional enablers…”