{"id":48122,"date":"2025-11-16T18:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T18:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/11\/16\/us-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-the-caribbean-in-buildup-near-venezuela\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:47:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:47:02","slug":"us-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-the-caribbean-in-buildup-near-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2025\/11\/16\/us-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-the-caribbean-in-buildup-near-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"US aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean in buildup near Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nation\u2019s most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of U.S. military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration\u2019s intentions in South America as it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/11\/06\/a-list-of-us-military-strikes-against-alleged-drug-carrying-vessels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/11\/06\/a-list-of-us-military-strikes-against-alleged-drug-carrying-vessels\/\">conducts military strikes against vessels<\/a> suspected of transporting drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The arrival of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/11\/13\/us-aircraft-carrier-nears-venezuela-in-flex-of-american-military-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/11\/13\/us-aircraft-carrier-nears-venezuela-in-flex-of-american-military-power\/\">USS Gerald R. Ford<\/a> and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in what the administration insists is a counterdrug operation but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/11\/07\/senate-votes-down-measure-to-limit-trumps-ability-to-strike-venezuela\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/11\/07\/senate-votes-down-measure-to-limit-trumps-ability-to-strike-venezuela\/\">Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>. Since early September, U.S. strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/11\/11\/uss-gerald-r-ford-arrives-in-latin-american-waters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/11\/11\/uss-gerald-r-ford-arrives-in-latin-american-waters\/\">Ford<\/a> rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the \u201cOperation Southern Spear\u201d mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to \u201cprotect our nation\u2019s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces \u201cstand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Holsey, who will retire next month after just a year on the job, said the strike group\u2019s deployment is \u201ca critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun \u201ctraining exercises\u201d with the U.S. military that will run through much of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. military strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exercises will include Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit who have been stationed aboard the Navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela\u2019s coast for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venezuela\u2019s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment Sunday on the arrival of the aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration has insisted that the buildup is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were \u201cnarcoterrorists.\u201d Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the U.S. would \u201cstop the drugs coming in by land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States does not recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year\u2019s election, as Venezuela\u2019s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela\u2019s government a \u201ctransshipment organization\u201d that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is \u201cfabricating\u201d a war against him. Venezuela\u2019s government recently touted a \u201cmassive\u201d mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the U.S. is in \u201carmed conflict\u201d with drug cartels while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has faced pushback from leaders in the region, the U.N. human rights chief and U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the boat strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Republicans, however, recently voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump\u2019s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts disagree on whether or not American warplanes may be used to strike land targets inside Venezuela. Either way, the 100,000-ton warship is sending a message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,\u201d said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group\u2019s senior analyst for the Andes region. \u201cAnd it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford marks a major moment in what the administration\u00a0insists is a counterdrug operation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[11,16,48],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2979],"class_list":["post-48122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global","category-naval","category-the-americas"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HLLQQJNRFFF2RHGAFWVRYVKAZI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2025\/11\/16\/us-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-the-caribbean-in-buildup-near-venezuela\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean in buildup near Venezuela - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The\u00a0arrival of the USS Gerald R. 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