US Navy deploys carrier strike group to Caribbean amid escalating tensions with Venezuela
Photo: USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy's largest aircraft carrier (US Navy)
The US Navy has deployed a strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean amid escalating tensions with Venezuela, ABC News reports.
The ships entered the Caribbean from the western Atlantic Ocean through the Arenada Passage, which separates the Virgin Islands and Anguilla. Four ships from the strike group will join seven others that have been operating in the Caribbean basin for several months as part of Operation Southern Spear.
The USS Gerald R. Ford carries more than 60 aircraft, most of them fighter aircraft, raising concerns that the next phase of operations against Latin American drug cartels could include strikes on ground targets in Venezuela.
Currently, 15,000 US troops are deployed across the Caribbean basin, marking the largest American military presence in the region in decades.
Operation Southern Spear
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of Operation Southern Spear in the Western Hemisphere.
"This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people," said US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The operation targets narcoterrorist groups, including Venezuela's Cartel of the Suns and Tren de Aragua, as well as Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel.
According to CBS News, the Pentagon has already provided President Trump with military operation plans against Venezuela. All options were described as "ready for implementation within days."
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has stated that the increase in US military presence is aimed at toppling his regime.
Reuters reports that Venezuelan authorities plan to organize a guerrilla-style resistance in response to a potential US ground operation.
