By Ben Finley
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Nov. 16 in a display of U.S. military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration’s drug enforcement campaign in South America.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, announced by the U.S. military in a news release, marks a major moment in what the Trump administration insists is a counterdrug operation but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Since early September, U.S. strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations, bringing the total number of troops to around 12,000 on nearly a dozen Navy ships in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dubbed “Operation Southern Spear.”
The Ford’s carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands early Nov. 16, the Navy said in a statement.
Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the Ford’s carrier strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to “protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.”
The administration has insisted that the buildup of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the U.S. would “stop the drugs coming in by land.”
The U.S. has long used aircraft carriers to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country. Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective instrument of intimidation for Maduro in a push to get him to step down.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States does not recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela’s government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.
Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government recently touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.
Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations.
He has faced pushback from leaders in the region, the U.N. human rights chief and U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the boat strikes.
Caribbean Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.-09) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.-43) also condemned the attacks, saying “enough is enough.”
“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Trump Administration’s unilateral and unlawful military strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. No matter how desperately Donald Trump wishes it weren’t, the United States is still a nation of laws – its own, and those of the world. These strikes, and the president’s policy of ‘kill first, ask questions never,’ that undergirds them, are an affront to both,” the pair said in a statement.
The Congressional Black Caucus members further said the actions are seemingly the 47th administration’s attempt to show off its power to adversaries and allies, alike.
“Before more innocent lives are taken beyond those which likely already have been, before more maimed remains of those Donald Trump extrajudicially bombed wash upon the shores of our Caribbean neighbors, and before more of America’s friends are alienated in the name of intimidating our rivals, these strikes must end,” the statement concluded.
Despite concern on both sides of the political aisle, Senate Republicans recently voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
Experts disagree on whether or not American warplanes may be used to strike land targets inside Venezuela. Either way, the 100,000-ton warship is sending a message.
“This is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region. “And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.”