Russia’s openness to sending hypersonic missiles to Venezuela has sharply raised the temperature in the Caribbean, where U.S. forces are already on high alert.

The Telegraph reported that Moscow is exploring a deal to position advanced missile systems capable of striking U.S. territory from South America.

Analysts told the Telegraph the move would mark Russia’s boldest military foray in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War, potentially transforming the region into a new front in the standoff between Moscow and Washington.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has welcomed deeper defense ties with Russia as a counterbalance to U.S. pressure.

President Donald Trump has simultaneously ordered a major expansion of U.S. naval and air power across the Caribbean, saying the buildup is aimed at “crushing the deadly drug trade poisoning our communities.” He has framed the surge as a national security mission to protect America’s southern flank from narcotics traffickers.

According to Newsweek, U.S. officials have linked Maduro’s government to narcotrafficking networks and argued that the deployments are part of a broader war on transnational crime. The White House insists the moves are not about regime change but about “defending Americans from cartel operations.”

The Washington Post reported that at least eight U.S. warships have been sent south on anti-cartel missions, while The Guardian said the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is now operating in the region. The show of force has rattled Caracas and drawn warnings from Russia that it will “respond in kind” to any perceived provocation.

Trump’s team has also stepped up joint exercises with Caribbean allies. Miami Daily Life said a U.S. guided-missile destroyer recently docked in Trinidad and Tobago for anti-smuggling drills meant to “tighten the noose” on drug routes into the United States.

In Caracas, Maduro condemned the deployments as “acts of aggression” and vowed to respond to any U.S. incursion, the Associated Press reported. He has renewed talks with Moscow on expanded security cooperation and new weapons deliveries.

Experts cited by Mehr News Agency said the Kremlin sees Venezuela as a strategic foothold in the Americas that could divert U.S. attention from Europe and Ukraine. If hypersonic weapons are installed there, they warned, it would cut U.S. warning times to mere minutes.

The convergence of Russian missile diplomacy and Trump’s militarized anti-drug strategy has turned the Caribbean into a potential flashpoint. Once a backwater of global politics, the region is now at the center of a dangerous new contest for power and influence.