US aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean amid heightened tensions with Venezuela

The deployment of the aircraft carrier came amid heightened tensions with Venezuela.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Trump administration's expanding military campaign targeting alleged drug trafficking and transnational criminal organisations.

The deployment on Sunday follows a directive from the Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth aimed at supporting President Donald Trump's initiative to dismantle alleged criminal networks seen as threatening US security, according to the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

The carrier, which has more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft on board, will integrate with existing US forces in the area, such as the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and a Marine Expeditionary Unit.

All of the units operate under the newly established Joint Task Force Southern Spear, which is focused on disrupting criminal networks, the command said.

The Gerald R. Ford is accompanied by its strike group, which comprises nine squadrons from Carrier Air Wing Eight, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan, and the air defence command ship USS Winston S. Churchill.

Another boat struck

Southern Command said on Sunday that the US military struck another vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three people suspected of narcotics smuggling.

"On Nov. 15 (Saturday), at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization," the command said on X.

US intelligence confirmed the vessel "was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington plans to classify a cartel that it says Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro runs as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO).

"Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs, including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," Rubio said in a statement.

Later, Trump said he could have discussions with Maduro.

Heightened tensions

The deployment of the aircraft carrier came amid heightened tensions with Venezuela.

US military operations against alleged drug trafficking in the Caribbean began in September with a strike on a Venezuelan speedboat, and the campaign expanded to include the Eastern Pacific by late October.

Since the start of the campaign, at least 21 attacks targeting drug traffickers have been carried out, resulting in 82 deaths.

SOUTHCOM is responsible for overseeing US military operations across 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region the US considers vital for both hemispheric stability and countering trafficking networks.

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Source: TRT