‘They are inventing a war’ against Venezuela, says Maduro, after the US sends the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean

Trump government sends strike group with the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said this Friday (24) that the United States is “inventing a war” with Venezuela, amid the American military operation in the Caribbean, to which an aircraft carrier will now be added. The United States has sent warships, fighter planes and soldiers to the region for operations against drug trafficking, according to Washington. Caracas claims the objective is to oust Maduro from power. Since September 2, ten speedboats allegedly used for drug trafficking have been bombed, resulting in at least 43 deaths. “They are inventing a new eternal war, they promised that they would never get involved in a war again and they are inventing a war that we will avoid,” Maduro said in a mandatory radio and television broadcast. President of Venezuela, Maduro, participates in a demonstration to mark the Day of Indigenous Resistance, in Caracas Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters The United States “invents an extravagant, vulgar, criminal and totally false report, already proven false”, continued Maduro. “Venezuela is a country free from coca leaf production, free from cocaine production, and we will achieve 100% freedom of passage for the tiny 5% of drug trafficking that comes from Colombia.” Earlier, Washington announced that it will add the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to its operation in the Caribbean. President Donald Trump said he is studying American strikes on land. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López stated that the United States’ deployment represents “a military threat there in the Caribbean against Venezuela, against the region, against Latin America, against the Caribbean.” USS Gerald Ford Aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, lead ship of the United States Navy’s USS Gerald Ford strike group. Alyssa Joy/United States Navy The USS Gerald Ford is the largest 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 Friday’s military deployment, which occurs amid heightened tensions between the Trump and Maduro governments, had repercussions in the United States press, which called it a “significant escalation” and “great expansion” of the military pressure campaign against Venezuela. According to the Reuters news agency, there has been a “drastic increase” in the number of American troops and aircraft in the Latin American region. “The enhanced presence of U.S. forces in the U.S. SOUTHCOM area of ​​responsibility will enhance the U.S. ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the security and prosperity of the U.S. homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. Terrorist Organizations 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). Maduro denounces that the real objective of the US offensive is to remove him from power, and on Thursday he made appeals in English against a possible American operation, and said “no crazy war, please” (read more below). Trump has already stated that he will take ground actions against drug cartels soon, but without mentioning Venezuela. Previously, the American leader said that Maduro “offered everything” — in reference to the country’s natural resources — against a military onslaught in the country, however, Trump reportedly refused. Data from the United Nations (UN) also weaken the official version of the operations: the 2025 World Drug Report, from the UN drug and crime agency, points out that the drug that causes the most overdoses in the USA, fentanyl, comes from Mexico, which is close to the west coast of the USA. Despite this, the American military fleet was sent to the Caribbean Sea, on the other tip of the southern USA and close to Venezuela.

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