The Pentagon has ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to Latin America as part of a campaign to combat drug-trafficking networks, a move that has escalated regional tensions and prompted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro to accuse Washington of trying to “fabricate a war.”

 

 

 

The deployment, which includes the USS Gerald R. Ford and accompanying naval vessels, follows a series of US military strikes on boats allegedly used to smuggle narcotics in the Caribbean. Since early September, at least 10 vessels have been destroyed under the campaign launched by former US President Donald Trump.

 

 

 

 

 

According to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, the additional forces, including eight Navy ships and 10 F-35 stealth jets, are intended to “enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organisations.”

 

 

 

However, the operation has fuelled fears in Caracas that Washington’s real objective is to topple Maduro’s government. Speaking on state television late Friday, the Venezuelan leader accused the Trump administration of deliberately provoking conflict.

 

 

 

“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we are going to prevent,” Maduro said, calling the US build-up “a new eternal war.”

 

 

 

The tensions have also drawn in neighbouring Colombia, whose president, Gustavo Petro, has been sanctioned by Washington for allegedly allowing drug trafficking to flourish. Petro has fiercely criticised the American strikes, calling them acts of aggression.

 

 

 

The Pentagon’s latest announcement came shortly after US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed a strike on a vessel allegedly linked to the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua, killing six people in the Caribbean Sea.

 

 

 

“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth said in a post on X. “Day or night, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

 

 

 

 

According to AFP, at least 43 people have been killed in US strikes so far, although Washington has yet to release evidence proving that all the targeted boats were involved in drug trafficking.

 

 

 

Caracas has condemned the operations as an excuse for military aggression, with Maduro claiming earlier this week that Venezuela possesses 5,000 Russian-made surface-to-air missiles ready to defend its territory.

 

 

 

Flight tracking data revealed that a US B-1B bomber flew near Venezuela’s coast on Thursday, October 23, following a show of force by several B-52 bombers last week.

 

 

 

In remarks on Thursday, Trump said he did not need a formal declaration of war from Congress to take military action against Venezuela or any country “involved in the drug trade,” warning that strikes on land “are coming.”

 

 

 

The campaign has also drawn concern from Brazil, whose foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim told AFP that the escalation could destabilise the entire region. “We cannot accept an outside intervention because it will trigger immense resentment,” Amorim said. “It could inflame South America and lead to

the radicalisation of politics across the continent.”