The US has announced it is dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group to Latin America to combat drug trafficking organizations. This move also strengthens the US military presence in the Caribbean Sea. On the 24th, Venezuelan President Maduro claimed that the US is “fabricating a war.”
According to AFP, Maduro said: “They are fabricating a new long-term war; previously they pledged never to get involved in another war, but now they are fabricating one which we will prevent.”
US Department of Defense spokesperson Parnell announced on the 24th that the USS Ford aircraft carrier strike group is being deployed to the area of responsibility of US Southern Command, namely the waters surrounding Latin America.
Parnell said that to implement President Trump’s directive to 'dismantle transnational criminal organizations and combat narco-terrorism to defend the homeland,' Secretary of Defense Hegseth has ordered the deployment of the USS Ford carrier strike group and its embarked air wing to US Southern Command’s area of responsibility.
According to analysis by US media, this indicates that the Trump administration plans to expand anti-drug military operations from targeting small suspected drug trafficking boats in international waters to also striking at land-based targets in the Latin American region.
So far, US air strikes have targeted at least 10 vessels, resulting in more than 40 deaths. According to the victims’ families and their home country governments, most of the deceased were civilians, and some were fishermen working at sea.