Trump deploys U.S. carrier to Latin America amid war fears
The Trump administration has made a bold move in Latin America’s waters, ordering deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier along with its strike group—marking one of the most aggressive military escalations in the region in decades.
The deployment comes as part of a broader U.S. campaign targeting transnational criminal organizations and alleged narcotics trafficking. Pentagon officials said the carrier group will “enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle” criminal networks in the Western Hemisphere.
Already operating in the region are eight warships, a nuclear submarine, and F-35 fighter jets. Adding Gerald Ford to this force significantly deepens the U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean and off the coast of South America.
These actions build on a string of U.S. strikes since September against vessels the government claims were used to smuggle narcotics. To date, the U.S. says about 43 people have died in those operations. Critics have questioned the evidence and the legality of the strikes.
Venezuela has forcefully denounced the deployment, accusing Washington of manufacturing a war. President Nicolás Maduro warned that any U.S. intervention would trigger national resistance.
The move also comes amid heightened tensions with Colombia. President Trump recently sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of turning a blind eye to drug trafficking.
Observers see the carrier deployment as a sharp escalation—one that pushes U.S. involvement well beyond traditional counter-narcotics efforts and edges into a show of force in a region already fraught with geopolitical sensitivities.
