The United States has deployed its most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to waters off Latin America. The carrier, which carries among other assets four fighter squadrons, is escorted by three guided-missile destroyers. The move adds to the already significant firepower the US has positioned in the region and further heightens tensions with Venezuela, whose government calls the deployment an “imperialist” threat.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered its area of responsibility on 11 November. Washington first announced the deployment on 24 October, presenting it as part of an operation to dismantle international criminal organisations and combat narco-terrorism. The carrier’s arrival coincided with military exercises announced by Caracas. Russia, an ally of President Nicolás Maduro, sharply condemned recent US air strikes on speedboats allegedly used by drug traffickers.
US build-up since August
Since August, the US has added eight surface warships in the Caribbean, including guided-missile destroyers and amphibious vessels, deployed a nuclear-powered submarine, and positioned F-35 aircraft in Puerto Rico. Officially, Washington says these moves support counter-narcotics operations aimed at flows to the US market.
Caracas accuses the US of using anti-drug operations as a pretext to seek “regime change” and to gain control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. President Donald Trump has said he approved CIA covert operations on Venezuelan soil and has spoken of possible strikes, asserting that Maduro’s days in power are “numbered”, while also ruling out war.
Maduro responded that if Venezuela must take up arms to defend “the sacred legacy of our liberators”, it will be ready to prevail. He also signed a law creating a new defence body with the “power” to confront the United States.
Country on alert
Alongside the Pentagon announcement, Venezuela’s armed forces declared a “massive” nationwide deployment. Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said 200,000 personnel took part in an exercise, with troop movements observed in major cities including Caracas. The government frequently announces drills that receive extensive coverage in pro-government media, though they are not always visible on the ground.
Padrino said the country is on alert, “guarded, protected, defended”, and labelled US troops “mercenaries” who “kill defenceless people, whether they are drug traffickers or not”.
Air strikes under scrutiny
Since early September, US forces have carried out around twenty air strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific, claiming targets were drug-running vessels, and reporting 76 people killed. Critics note the US has not presented evidence.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Washington this week to review the legality of the strikes, citing “strong indications” they amount to extrajudicial executions. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the operations “unacceptable”, saying such actions are typical of countries that consider themselves above the law. In May, Maduro announced a further tightening of ties with Moscow through a bilateral cooperation agreement.
Regional unease
The growing US military presence has sparked concern in Brazil under President Lula da Silva and in Colombia under President Gustavo Petro, who said via X that he ordered Bogotá to suspend intelligence sharing with Washington “as long as missile strikes against vessels continue”.
Even the United Kingdom, a close US ally, suspended for more than a month the sharing of maritime location data on suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean, according to CNN reports cited yesterday, to avoid being seen as complicit in US air strikes. When contacted by AFP, Downing Street declined to comment on security and intelligence matters.
Source: AMNA