The Pentagon announced Friday that it will deploy an aircraft carrier off South America.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy.
He directed the carrier to support US Southern Command operations and regional security tasks.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted the deployment will boost detection, monitoring, and disruption capabilities.
The USS Gerald R. Ford currently operates in the Mediterranean Sea.
Her strike group includes five destroyers accompanying the carrier.
Military officials called the move a significant escalation in the region’s force posture.
Intensified Strikes Target Suspected Narco Vessels
Hours earlier, Hegseth said forces executed their tenth strike on a suspected drug-running boat.
He reported six people died in that overnight operation.
He added strikes since early September have killed at least 43 people.
Hegseth accused the intercepted vessel of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang.
The Trump administration previously linked another operation to that same gang.
Officials said the latest strike occurred in international waters and happened at night.
The strike tempo increased recently from sporadic actions to three attacks this week.
Hegseth vowed to map networks, track suspects, hunt them down, and kill narco-terrorists.
Venezuela Focus and Regional Political Signals
The administration emphasized Tren de Aragua when explaining the strikes’ targets.
It claimed at least four of the struck boats originated from Venezuelan waters.
Observers speculated the military buildup could signal intent to pressure President Nicolás Maduro.
The US also flew two hypersonic heavy bombers near Venezuela’s coastline on Thursday.
The administration framed the campaign as counter-narcotics operations, citing national security.
Maduro accused the US of seeking to force him from power.
He praised defence forces and militias for drills along roughly 2,000 kilometres of coastline.
Maduro said his forces covered the entire coastline in six hours with heavy equipment.
He repeated “not war, just peace” while appearing to mock US threats.
Analyst Elizabeth Dickinson argued Washington uses drug-fighting as an excuse to press regional alignment.
She said the message clearly reaches capitals across the hemisphere.
Hegseth drew parallels between these strikes and the post-9/11 war on terror.
Trump recently declared drug cartels unlawful combatants and described an “armed conflict” with them.
Reporters asked whether he would seek Congress’ war declaration against cartels.
He replied he would not seek that; he said he would “just kill people” smuggling drugs.
