Top Pentagon officials visit Puerto Rico as tensions with Venezuela soar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the top U.S. general Dan Caine made a surprise visit to Puerto Rico on Monday, the first trip by senior Pentagon officials there since the start of a military buildup in the Caribbean that has escalated tensions with Venezuela. Hegseth and Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were seen being received by Puerto Rico's governor, Jenniffer Gonzalez, in photographs she posted to social media site X.