The United States (US) military announced that the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which is the largest aircraft carrier in the world, has arrived in Caribbean waters, or near Venezuela. The presence of this US aircraft carrier further expands the presence of US troops near Venezuelan territory.
US President Donald Trump has ordered additional military troops in the Caribbean region as part of an anti-drug trafficking initiative. However, speculation is rife that Washington may be considering military intervention against Venezuela’s powerful leader, President Nicolas Maduro.
US Southern Command or SOUTHCOM, which oversees American troops in the Latin American and Caribbean region, as reported AFPMonday (17/11/2025), said that the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier Combat Unit had entered its area of responsibility.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
In an announcement on Sunday (16/11) local time, SOUTHCOM said that the USS Gerald R Ford and its combat unit had entered the Caribbean Sea, which is north of mainland Venezuela.
It was said by SOUTHCOM in its announcement that the move follows Trump’s “directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and fight narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland”.
The USS Gerald R Ford combat unit includes the most advanced and largest aircraft carrier in the world, two destroyers equipped with guided missiles, and a number of other supporting military ships and aircraft.
They join several US warships already in the Caribbean, in a deployment the Pentagon calls “Operation Southern Spear”.
Since launching military operations targeting drug trafficking in the Caribbean last September, US forces have killed at least 80 people in a series of attacks on at least 20 vessels suspected of transporting drugs in international waters.
The US did not release any details to support its claim that the people targeted in its attacks were indeed drug traffickers. Experts assess the deaths resulting from the US attack as extrajudicial killings, even though the targets were drug traffickers.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan authorities view the deployment of the US military near its territory as a real threat.
The arrival of the US aircraft carrier near Caracas was announced on the same day that Trump suddenly said that Maduro wanted dialogue with the US. However, he did not provide further explanation regarding when and where the dialogue would be held.
“We will probably have a discussion with Maduro, and we’ll see what the results are,” Trump told reporters at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, USA, on Sunday (16/11) local time.
Watch DetikPagi Live:
Page 2 of 2
(nvc/ita)
