The world’s largest aircraft carrier is already in Latin American waters. This was stated by the US Army, which stated in a memorandum that “The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, led by the largest aircraft carrier in the world, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), entered the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM AOR) on November 11.”
The aircraft carrier’s arrival, with all its accompanying deployment, comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, acting on instructions from United States President Donald Trump, ordered increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Madordo.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said: “The increased presence of US forces will enhance the United States’ ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit activities and actors that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States and our security in the Western Hemisphere.” He added: “These forces will work to strengthen and expand existing capabilities to disrupt drug trafficking and weaken and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.”
This means the Pentagon asserts that the deployment is related to furthering an extrajudicial killing spree in Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters, which has killed 76 people in 19 attacks since September 2.
The aircraft carrier’s arrival also comes after Trump authorized covert CIA operations on Venezuelan territory and announced “land attacks” after those carried out at sea.
The presence of the aircraft carrier also increases the concerns of many members of the US Congress about an operation to oust Maduro. Thus, last week, members of the Trump administration were able to block a decision aimed at halting White House operations in Venezuela after stating that they did not yet have a legal basis for launching an attack in the country.
The Pentagon announced on October 24 that the Secretary of Defense had ordered the transfer of the Ford aircraft carrier from Europe to Latin America. The ship, whose home port is in Virginia, has been deployed since June.
The USS Ford aircraft carrier, the largest and most modern aircraft carrier in the US Navy, carries 4,000 soldiers. It is accompanied by the destroyers USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan, and USS Winston S. Churchill.
The arrival of the aircraft carrier strike group brings the number of US forces in the region to nearly 15,000, including personnel deployed aboard dozens of warships and reinforcements sent in recent weeks to US facilities in Puerto Rico.
This is an unprecedented military presence in a region that has historically seen only one or two Navy ships supporting the U.S. Coast Guard on counter-narcotics missions, which have generally ended with the arrest and prosecution of suspects, the Washington Post reported.
Venezuelan mobilization
For his part, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced an exceptional mobilization in the face of any hypothetical attack by the United States by signing the “Leadership Law for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation,” which was approved by the Venezuelan National Assembly on Tuesday, which defines the characteristics and functions of these bodies.
“This law provides for the establishment of Comprehensive Defense Commands at the national level, at the level of each state, among the 335 municipalities,” Maduro said. “The Comprehensive Defense Commands are very clear about their tasks, structures and tasks at all stages. From this moment on, the order must be activated so that the Comprehensive Defense Commands are created, organized and go to work to be ready, if it is our turn, as a republic, as a people, to go to armed struggle to defend this sacred heritage of the people.” O liberators, be prepared for victory, for victory on the path of patriotism and courage.”
According to the Venezuelan government, “more than eight million” Venezuelans have been recruited into the militias, there have been training days for citizens in “military techniques” and the deployment of the Venezuelan National Armed Forces “state by state,” reports Efe, which notes that the new law, according to the discussion process in the Assembly, indicates that the overall defense command “is a linked subordination” to the Strategic Operational Command of the Armed Forces (Ceofanb) that “has the mission of integration, planning and clarification, “coordination, direction, supervision and exercise Oversight” of the so-called Total Defense Administrative Bodies (ODDI).
Among its activities are “supporting military operations,” as well as “ensuring the continuity of productive activities and the operation of basic public services and vital infrastructure, once the mobilization decree is issued.”
In parallel, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López stated on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) that “nearly 200,000 soldiers have been deployed throughout the national territory” to implement the 200 Independence Plan.
Padrino indicated in a statement published on social media that the publication began on Tuesday at 4:00 am local time and will end on Wednesday. This mobilization includes “land, air, sea, river, and… “missiles”As well as weapons systems, military units, the Bolivarian militia, citizen security services, and comprehensive defense commands.
He also confirms that “the Comprehensive Defense Management Bodies (ODDI) will be activated in all states, federal and municipal entities.”
Suspension of Colombian and British cooperation with the United States
The United Kingdom has stopped sharing intelligence with the United States about suspected drug smuggling ships in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military attacks, deeming them illegal, CNN reports on Tuesday.
British officials consider that the American military attacks, which caused the death of 76 people, violate international law, according to informed sources who told the American network. The media indicate that the suspension of intelligence operations began more than a month ago.
The United Kingdom controls several areas in the Caribbean where it maintains intelligence bases. Sources told the outlet that the company has helped the United States for years locate ships suspected of transporting drugs so that the US Coast Guard can intercept them.
But the relationship changed after the United States began launching deadly attacks on ships suspected of transporting drugs in September, according to the outlet.
For his part, Colombia’s President, Gustavo Petro, issued an order on Tuesday to “suspend the transmission of communications and other dealings with US security agencies” until the attacks launched by the country against boats supposedly transporting drugs in the waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean stop.
“All levels of law enforcement intelligence have been ordered to suspend communications and other dealings with U.S. security agencies,” Petro wrote in his book X.
“Such a measure will be maintained as long as the missile attack on boats in the Caribbean continues,” the President explained, adding: “The war against drugs must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people.”
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