WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its so-called war against narcoterrorism.

It’s not US warships that are weighing on the minds of many Venezuelans, but a more pressing, personal issue: how to pay the bills.

The US military bombed two more suspected drug smuggling vessels — this time in the Eastern Pacific — killing five “narco-terrorists” on board, War Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said on Thursday that a suspension of aid from the United States would mean nothing to his country but that changes to military funding could have an effect. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened over the weekend to raise tariffs on Colombia and said Wednesday that all funding to the country had been halted.

Amid a stubborn government shutdown, payday was a nervous affair for military families in this military-heavy region.