USS Gerald Ford Is Heading to the Coast of Venezuela

TEHRAN (Defapress) - The Pentagon announced on Friday that the USS Gerald Ford, America’s most advanced aircraft carrier, is being deployed to the Caribbean, a move that signals the Trump administration’s escalation of militarization in the Caribbean under the pretext of fighting drug cartels and paving the way for ground attacks.

The ship, which is equipped with dozens of stealth fighters and reconnaissance aircraft, has concluded its current mission in the Mediterranean Sea and is now en route to the coast of Venezuela with warships. The incident is the clearest sign yet of the Trump administration’s intention to expand its military operations beyond targeting small boats suspected of carrying drugs to land-based targets.

The USS Gerald R. Ford is equipped with dozens of F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, which will increase America’s offensive capabilities and allow it to target Venezuelan air defenses.

“The expanded naval presence will strengthen the US capacity to identify, monitor, and engage actors of illicit activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States and the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

In Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the US military presence, saying, “They promised not to go to war again, but now they are building one.”

The Trump administration has sought to intensify its campaign against drug cartels and destabilize Maduro’s government in recent weeks. The US military has so far attacked at least nine suspected drug-trafficking boats.

Trump confirmed at the White House on Thursday that the next phase of the military campaign would involve attacking land targets. “It’s land. It’s much more dangerous for them to move drugs by land. It’s going to be much more dangerous. You’ll see,” he said.

Trump did not specify which countries or targets would be attacked. But he ordered War Secretary Pete Hegsett to brief Congress on the administration’s plans.

Asked whether he would declare war on the cartels, Trump said: “I think we’re just going to kill the people who bring drugs into our country, okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re really going to die.”

Since the military campaign began, the Trump administration has offered dubious legal justifications for the strikes, claiming that the boats are affiliated with terrorist organizations and that America is now at war with them.

However, the US government has so far provided no evidence that those killed in the naval strikes were actually smuggling drugs into the US. Pentagon officials have told Congress that the boats were legitimate targets because Trump has labeled them the property of drug cartels.

The military campaign has also drawn the attention of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Trump confirmed this month that he had authorized covert operations in Venezuela by the CIA. Much of the intelligence used in the airstrikes came from the agency.