The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and several other warships have arrived in the waters near Venezuela. The strike group was ordered to Southern Command’s area of command as the White House is threatening Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The Gerald R Ford Carrier Strike Group, led by the world’s largest aircraft carrier, entered the US Southern Command area of responsibility,” a statement by the Fourth Fleet published Tuesday said. “The maritime forces’ arrival comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directed the Carrier Strike Group to support the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland.”
The Fourth Fleet touted the massive destructive power that the Ford and its supporting warships are capable of. The statement did not disclose the location of the ships other than to say it was within SOUTHCOM’s area of command.
Since September, the US has bombed at least 20 boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing over 70 people. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has asserted that the vessels were operated by cartels designated as terrorist organizations that were trafficking narcotics to the US.
The Pentagon has not provided evidence to back up its claim. Additionally, Congress has not declared war or otherwise authorized President Donald Trump to use military force against drug smugglers. Senator Rand Paul has slammed the strikes as “extrajudicial killings.”
Washington previously deployed warplanes, destroyers, Marines, and an attack submarine to the Caribbean. The aircraft carrier strike group is not necessary to destroy a few small boats each week.
Multiple outlets have reported that the White House is considering expanding the strikes to inside Venezuela. The State Department has asserted that Maduro is the leader of a cartel designated as a terrorist group.
Last month, Politico reported the Trump administration had decided to remove Maduro. “The president is serious. No more mixed messages. No more excuses,” a person familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking told NatSec Daily. “There is now a coherent whole-of-government strategy to eliminate Cartel de los Soles and its leader [Maduro].”
