On Jan. 3, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and they are now imprisoned in the United States. That operation followed a buildup of U.S. military assets in the Caribbean and the launching of strikes against boats allegedly trafficking drugs. The latest National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy emphasize the importance of the Western Hemisphere to U.S. policy. After Maduro’s capture, the Trump administration increasingly appeared to look toward regime change in Cuba. However, when U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran began on Feb. 28, attention — and some military assets — shifted to the Middle East.While much of the focus has been on the Middle East over the last two months, we asked four experts to consider what actions and policies the United States has pursued in the Caribbean during that time — and what it might mean for U.S. foreign policy and the Caribbean region going forward.Read more below. Joshua S. TreviñoSenior Director for the Western Hemisphere Initiative at the America First Policy InstituteAlthough American public attention and assets have emphatically shifted to the Middle East in the past 90 days, American policy and action continue to forge ahead in the Western Hemisphere. Four items demonstrate the depth of U.S. commitment. The first is the deployment of the USS Nimitz to U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility — the Navy postponed plans to retire its oldest supercarrier, allowing it to take up the station vacated by the USS Gerald R. Ford, as the latter moved to U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. The second is the U.S. Southern Command-supported land strikes in Ecuador and elsewhere, which have continued, unaffected by the war with Iran. The third is continuing U.S. pressure on the Cuban regime, including public reports of military preparations as that government
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