The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that the U.S. will send the USS Gerald R. Ford to the waters off South America. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the carrier and its strike group to join U.S. Southern Command operations. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the deployment aims to locate, monitor, and dismantle criminal networks threatening U.S. interests.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, supported by five destroyers, currently operates in the Mediterranean Sea. The move signals a sharp rise in U.S. military activity across the Caribbean and near Venezuela. Deploying an aircraft carrier marks a significant expansion of American power in the region.
Night Raids Target Smugglers in Expanding Drug War
Hours before announcing the deployment, Hegseth confirmed a tenth U.S. strike on a suspected drug-running vessel. The nighttime operation killed six people and increased the death toll to at least 43 since September.
Officials said the targeted vessel was linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, a criminal network founded in a Venezuelan prison. The Trump administration designated the group a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. Hegseth said the latest strike occurred in international waters and was the first conducted at night.
“If you are smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will find you and kill you,” Hegseth warned.
Venezuela Prepares for Confrontation as U.S. Pressure Grows
The Trump administration has connected several destroyed vessels to Venezuela, accusing President Nicolás Maduro of aiding narco-terror operations. U.S. forces escalated pressure by flying hypersonic bombers along Venezuela’s coast on Thursday.
Maduro responded by mobilizing troops and militias to defend 2,000 kilometers of coastline. He claimed the drills covered the entire coast in real time. On state television, he declared, “Not war, not war—just peace, forever.”
Analyst Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group said Washington’s actions carry clear political motives. “Drugs are the excuse,” she said. “The U.S. is signaling that it will use force to pressure uncooperative leaders.”
Hegseth compared the current campaign to the post-9/11 war on terror. Trump labeled drug cartels unlawful combatants and declared the U.S. in armed conflict with them. When asked if he would seek a formal war declaration, Trump replied, “We’re just going to kill the people bringing drugs into our country—they’re going to be dead.”
