USS Gerald Ford enters Caribbean amid tensions with Venezuela

The deployment follows a directive from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth aimed at supporting President Donald Trump’s initiative to dismantle criminal networks seen as threatening US security, according to the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

The carrier, which has more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft on board, will integrate with existing US forces in the area such as the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and a marine expeditionary unit.

All of the units operate under the newly established Joint Task Force Southern Spear, which is focused on disrupting criminal networks, the command said.

The Gerald R. Ford is accompanied by its strike group, which comprises nine squadrons from Carrier Air Wing Eight, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan, and the air defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill.

The deployment came amid heightened tensions with Venezuela.

US military operations against alleged drug trafficking in the Caribbean began in September with a strike on a Venezuelan speedboat, and the campaign expanded to include the Eastern Pacific by late October.

Since the start of the campaign, at least 21 attacks targeting drug traffickers have been carried out, resulting in 82 deaths.

SOUTHCOM is responsible for overseeing US military operations across 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region the US considers vital for both hemispheric stability and countering trafficking networks.