Aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean in major build-up

WASHINGTON (AP):

The United States’ most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of US military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration’s drug enforcement campaign in South America.

The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, announced by the US military in a news release, marks a major moment in what the Trump administration insists is a counter-drug operation, but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Since early September, US strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.

The Ford rounds off the largest build-up of US firepower in the region in generations, bringing the total number of troops to about 12,000 on nearly a dozen Navy ships in what Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has dubbed “Operation Southern Spear”.

The Ford’s carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said in a statement.

Rear Admiral Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the Ford’s carrier strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to “protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere”.

The administration has insisted that the build-up of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the US, but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists”. Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the US would “stop the drugs coming in by land”.

The US has long used aircraft carriers to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country. Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective instrument of intimidation for Maduro in a push to get him to step down.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sad the United States does not recognise Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela’s government a “trans-shipment organisation” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.

Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the US, has said the US government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government recently touted a “massive” mobilisation of troops and civilians to defend against possible US attacks.

Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the US is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organisations.

He has faced pushback from leaders in the region, the UN human rights chief and US lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the boat strikes.