The United States government announced this Friday (24) the sending of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean region, in a measure that reinforces the American military presence close to the Venezuelan coast. The action takes place amid an escalation of tensions between the governments of Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is described by the US Navy as the largest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the world. The ship has a nuclear reactor, the capacity to house more than 75 military aircraft, including F-18 Super Hornet fighters and E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning planes, as well as an arsenal of medium-range surface-to-air and anti-aircraft missiles, such as the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.
In addition to the aircraft carrier, the strike group includes three Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers (Thomas Hudner, Ramage and Carney) and the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser Normandy. These ships have armaments for surface-to-air, surface-to-surface and anti-submarine attacks, expanding the operational capacity of the fleet.
US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, announced that the mobilization is part of the presidential directive to combat narco-terrorism and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (OCT). According to him, the presence of the attack group will allow “to detect, monitor and dismantle illicit activities that compromise the security and prosperity of the North American territory and the Western Hemisphere”.
The American military fleet is already partially positioned. The USS Gerald R. Ford was last seen in Croatia, on October 21, and it should still take a few days to reach the Caribbean, traveling more than 8 thousand kilometers to the operating region. En route, the group passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and carried out exercises off the coast of Norway.
The military reinforcement occurs in parallel with recent US actions in the region, including the sinking of ten vessels suspected of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean near South America. To date, these operations have resulted in the deaths of 43 people, according to official US information.
The strike group also includes three squadrons of F-18 fighters and two squadrons of MH-60 helicopters, adding to other military assets already present in the region, such as submarines, amphibious ships and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico. In total, around 10,000 American troops have already been deployed to the Caribbean.
The fleet’s deployment generated international concern about Washington’s intentions in Latin America. Although the White House justifies the mobilization as part of the fight against drug trafficking, the Trump administration is considering possible operations inside Venezuela, as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening the Maduro regime.
In response, the Venezuelan government raised its military alert and has been carrying out exercises and recruiting reservists since August. President Nicolás Maduro publicly criticized the American move, appealing in English for peace and condemning what he called a “crazy war” against his country.
Maduro also highlighted Caracas’ military capabilities and cited the support of allies such as China and Russia, in a context of geopolitical dispute with the USA. According to the Venezuelan president, the country has sufficient defensive equipment to guarantee peace and protect itself from external threats.
Experts and international bodies, such as the UN, point out that the drug that causes the most overdoses in the USA, fentanyl, comes from Mexico, far from the Caribbean region. However, the American operation concentrates military forces in the southern part of the continent, reinforcing the presence close to Venezuela, despite criticism of the strategy.
