US deploys aircraft carrier amid hardening stance towards Venezuela

In response to rumors that the Venezuelan government might overthrow its government, the United States will send an aircraft carrier strike group to Latin America.

The USS Gerald Ford and five destroyers in its accompanying strike group were ordered to deploy to Latin America on Friday, according to a US military spokesman.

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In a social media post, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the increased US force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will increase US ability to identify, track, and stop illegal actors and activities that threaten the country’s security and national security.

The deployment comes as the US takes a more stern line against Caracas, a long-time target of US ire, and suggests a military firepower that goes beyond the Trump administration’s stated objectives of tackling drug trafficking.

An additional 4,500 personnel are stationed on the USS Gerald Ford and the five destroyers in its strike group, which currently has about 6, 000 sailors and marines stationed on eight warships. The carrier is currently in the Mediterranean Sea, but it’s not yet known when it will arrive in Latin America.

Trump claimed last week that he had authorized the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a global spy agency, to conduct operations in Venezuela, and that attacks on Venezuelan soil might soon follow.

The Trump administration has used the baseless claim that President Nicolas Maduro’s government coordinates with criminal organizations to “invade” the US through drugs and immigration as a pretext for those actions. There is little evidence that Venezuela controls the world’s drug trade, despite internal US intelligence investigations that found little support for the claim that the Maduro government is in charge of criminal organizations.

The US has launched more military strikes on ships in the area since early September, many of which it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela without supporting any evidence. According to UN officials and experts in international law, the strikes constitute extrajudicial executions and are in direct violation of US and international law.

The Maduro government has stated that it will vehemently oppose any US government attempt to overthrow it.

Foreign Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Friday, “You can interpret it however you want: the Armed Forces will not allow a government here that serves the interests of the United States.”

He continued, “This is the most significant military threat in the last 100 years.” “We want peace, not war,” the saying goes.