Washington: The U.S. military is deploying the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its air wing to Latin America, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on X. This move highlights the Pentagon sending an aircraft carrier to Latin America. The deployment covers Latin America south of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and adjacent waters under the U.S. Southern Command.
Parnell said the move supports the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and combat narco-terrorism to protect the homeland.
“These forces will enhance existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and dismantle TCOs,” Parnell added.
Analysts see the deployment as a sign that the U.S. intends to expand its anti-cartel campaign from targeting small boats in international waters to potentially striking land-based operations across Latin America.
The military buildup in the Caribbean is reportedly the largest in over 30 years, since the U.S. invasion of Panama, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this week, U.S. forces sank a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in Caribbean international waters, killing all six people on board. This marked the first nighttime strike on a suspected narcotics vessel and the 10th such operation since September, bringing the total U.S. strikes’ death toll to over 40.
On October 2, the Trump administration informed Congress it considers itself in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, designating their members as “unlawful combatants”.
The operations have sparked criticism: Senator Jack Reed called the strikes legally questionable, while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the U.S. of using cartel threats as a pretext for regime change. Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attacks as “murder.”
The deployment signals a major escalation in the U.S. fight against narco-terrorism in Latin America, raising both regional security concerns and international scrutiny.
–IANS
