Amid Trump’s anti-cartel drive, the United States is deploying an aircraft carrier to South America

In the latest display of military might in a zone where the Trump administration has launched more frequent attacks in recent days against vessels it claims are transporting narcotics, the Pentagon said Friday that the U.S. Navy is deploying an aircraft carrier to the waters near South America.

In order to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on social media that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had directed the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command region.

Currently stationed in the Mediterranean Sea is the USS Ford, a strike group consisting of five destroyers. An individual with knowledge of the operation told The Associated Press that two of its warships are located in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The aircraft carrier was anchored in Croatia in the Adriatic Sea as of Friday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military activities, the source did not disclose whether all five destroyers would make the trip or how long it would take the strike group to reach the seas near South America.

In an area where the United States has already witnessed an exceptionally strong military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the oceans around Venezuela, the deployment of an aircraft carrier will bring significant extra resources. The most recent deployment and the increasing frequency of U.S. attacks, including one on Friday, have sparked fresh conjecture about the extent of the Trump administration’s purportedly anti-drug trafficking efforts, including the possibility that it may attempt to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In the United States, he is accused of narcoterrorism.

Eight warships with about 6,000 sailors and Marines already in the area. In addition to the carrier’s nine aircraft squadrons, the whole USS Ford strike group could include around 4,500 more personnel.

Forecasters warn that Tropical Storm Melissa, which has been essentially stagnant in the middle Caribbean, might soon intensify into a major hurricane, further complicates matters.

Ten strikes have been fired so far.
Hegseth said that the military had carried out the tenth hit on a suspected drug-running boat, killing six persons and raising the total number of fatalities from the assaults that started in early September to at least 43, only hours before Parnell made the announcement.

Hegseth said on social media that the Tren de Aragua gang was in charge of the ship that was hit overnight. The Trump administration linked one of its activities to the gang that started in a jail in Venezuela for the second time.

“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth said in his article. “Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

Since they started last month, the strikes have increased from one every few weeks to three this week. Two of the most recent raids took place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, extending the military’s attack zone and moving to the region where the majority of cocaine is smuggled from the biggest producers in the world, such as Colombia.

The Trump administration placed penalties on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family, and a member of his cabinet on Friday due to allegations of participation in the international drug trafficking, further escalating relations with Colombia.

By targeting Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has labeled as a foreign terrorist organization and held responsible for the violence and drug trafficking that afflict some areas, Friday’s attack had similarities to the first one the United States announced last month.

The Republican government claims that at least four of the vessels it has struck had originated in Venezuela, but it has not disclosed the provenance of the most recent vessel. The U.S. military flew two supersonic heavy bombers up near the Venezuelan coast on Thursday.

Venezuela shores up its coastline

The U.S. actions, according to Maduro, are the most recent attempt to remove him from power. In anticipation of a potential U.S. strike, Maduro hailed security troops and a civilian militia on Thursday for conducting defense drills along around 2,000 kilometers of coastline.

“100 per cent of all the country’s coastline was covered in real time, with all the equipment and heavy weapons to defend all of Venezuela’s coasts if necessary,” Maduro said during a government event broadcast on state television in only six hours.

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst for the Andes area at the International Crisis Group, said the U.S. military’s presence is more about telling nations in the region to support U.S. interests than it is about narcotics.

“‘Drugs are the reason.'” is a phrase I hear a lot.” And everyone is aware of it,” Dickinson said. And in my opinion, regional capitals make that point quite evident. Thus, the message conveyed here is that the United States is determined to pursue certain goals. Additionally, it will use military action against dissident leaders and nations.