The world’s largest aircraft carrier arrives in Latin America to operate in Trump’s operation off the coast of Venezuela

The world’s largest aircraft carrier will patrol Latin America The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, entered the Latin American area of ​​operations this Tuesday (11), according to an official statement from the US Navy. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp The vessel will be part of the operation ordered by American President Donald Trump in the Caribbean under the justification of combating drug trafficking in the region. In practice, the military presence in the Atlantic also serves as pressure against the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela — and raises an alert for possible US military operations on land in the country. The exact location of the ship has not been disclosed. Since crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and entering the Atlantic Ocean, the Gerald Ford has had its transponder turned off to keep its position secret, as is common in military operations. United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford sailing through the Pacific Ocean en route to the Caribbean Sea. Photo taken on November 5, 2025. Alyssa Joy/United States Navy “The Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier Strike Group, led by the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, entered the US Southern Command area of ​​responsibility on November 11,” says the Navy note. “The arrival of the maritime forces comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the Aircraft Carrier Strike Group to support the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and combat narcoterrorism in defense of the Homeland.” The strike group also includes three destroyers, the USS Mahan, USS Bainbridge and USS Winston Churchill. Biggest and most lethal The USS Gerald Ford is the largest, most lethal and adaptable aircraft carrier in the world and also the most modern and technologically advanced in the US, according to the US Navy. Added to the American arsenal only in 2017 — considered recent in terms of the military industry —, the aircraft carrier has the capacity to house up to 90 fighters and helicopters, in addition to having a runway that is used for landings and takeoffs — this runway has an area three times larger than the Maracanã lawn. “The USS Gerald Ford is one of the greatest naval firepower that the US can project. Its dispatch is an unequivocal sign that the US is willing to use military force far beyond what has been done with attacks on boats and speedboats in the Caribbean”, UFF professor of International Relations and Harvard researcher Vitelio Brustolin told g1. Named after former President Gerald Ford, who governed the US between 1974 and 1977, the aircraft carrier is considered the US Navy’s main asset for power projection, deterrence and sea control. The USS Gerald Ford inaugurated a new class of aircraft carriers in the US military industry. Military presence in the Caribbean The vessels and aircraft of the USS Gerald Ford strike group add to the already large United States military presence in the Caribbean Sea, which includes several warships, fighter jets, special operations helicopters and bomber planes. Friday’s military deployment further escalated the military pressure applied by the Trump administration to the Maduro regime and was seen by the US press as a sign of a “great expansion” of the American campaign. The escalation of tensions between the USA and Venezuela has already seen bombings of South American boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean near South America, and raises an alert in the region about the possibility of military operations by American troops in Venezuela. Since August, the Trump administration has designated South American drug cartels as terrorist organizations and ordered military operations against them under the justification of stopping the flow of drugs entering the US. Furthermore, the US accused Maduro of heading the Los Soles Cartel and doubled the reward for his capture to US$50 million (about R$269 million). Venezuela on alert Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is preparing the country to fight in a guerrilla scheme if a US military invasion by land materializes, according to the Reuters news agency. The Maduro regime’s plans include strategically mobilizing weapons from its outdated military arsenal across the country, including decades-old Russian equipment, the agency says. Venezuelan Army units would be instructed to disperse and hide in case of attack. “We wouldn’t last two hours in a conventional war,” a source close to the government told Reuters. The Venezuelan government is on high alert against a possible direct attack by the Trump administration on its territory. According to the American media, the president is just waiting for a legal justification to attack. Trump suggested the possibility of ground operations in Venezuela and even said, at the beginning of the month, that he thought “Maduro’s days as president of Venezuela are numbered.” Discover the USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world and the most advanced in the United States Navy. Gui Sousa/Arte g1

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