WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, in the latest escalation and buildup of military forces in the region, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to U.S. Southern Command to 鈥渂olster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post.
The USS Ford is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea along with three destroyers. It would likely take several days for the ships to make the journey to South America.
Deploying an aircraft carrier is a major escalation of military power in a region that has already seen an unusually in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela.
Hours before Parnell announced the news, Hegseth said the military had conducted the , leaving six people dead and bringing the death count for the strikes that began in early September to at least 43 people.
The Pentagon told reporters it had nothing further to add beyond the statement.
Hegseth said the vessel struck overnight was operated by the . It was the second time the Trump administration has that originated in a Venezuelan prison.
The pace of the strikes has quickened in recent days from one every few weeks when they first began to three this week, killing a total of at least 43 people since September. were carried out in the eastern Pacific Ocean, expanding the area where the military has launched attacks and shifting to where much of the cocaine from the world鈥檚 largest producers is smuggled.
In a 20-second black and white video of the strike posted to social media, a small boat can be seen apparently sitting motionless on the water when a long thin projectile descends, triggering an explosion. The video ends before the blast dies down enough for the remains of the boat to be seen again.
Hegseth said the strike happened in international waters and boasted that it was the first one conducted at night.
鈥淚f you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda,鈥� Hegseth said in the post. 鈥淒ay or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.鈥�
US focus on Venezuela and Tren de Aragua
The strike drew parallels to the first announced by the U.S. last month by focusing on Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has and blamed for being at the root of the violence and drug dealing that plague some cities.
While not mentioning the origin of the latest boat, the Republican administration says at least four of the boats it has hit have come from Venezuela.
The attacks and an unusually in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela have raised speculation that the administration could , who faces
In the latest move, the U.S. military up to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday.
The Trump administration maintains that it鈥檚 combating drug trafficking into the United States, but Maduro argues that the operations are the latest effort to force him out of office.
Maduro on Thursday praised security forces and a civilian militia for defense exercises along some 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) of coastline to prepare for the possibility of a U.S. attack.
In the span of six hours, 鈥�100% of all the country鈥檚 coastline was covered in real time, with all the equipment and heavy weapons to defend all of Venezuela鈥檚 coasts if necessary,鈥� Maduro said during a government event shown on state television.
The U.S. military鈥檚 presence is less about drugs than sending a message to countries in the region to align with U.S. interests, according to Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group鈥檚 senior analyst for the Andes region.
鈥淎n expression that I鈥檓 hearing a lot is 鈥楧rugs are the excuse.鈥� And everyone knows that,鈥� Dickinson said. 鈥淎nd I think that message is very clear in regional capitals. So the messaging here is that the U.S. is intent on pursuing specific objectives. And it will use military force against leaders and countries that don鈥檛 fall in line.鈥�
Comparing the drug crackdown to the war on terror
Hegseth鈥檚 remarks around the strikes have recently begun to draw between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration鈥檚 crackdown on drug traffickers.
President Donald Trump this month and said the U.S. was in an 鈥渁rmed conflict鈥� with them, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration after 9/11.
When reporters asked Trump on Thursday whether he would request Congress issue a declaration of war against the cartels, he said that wasn鈥檛 the plan.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We鈥檙e going to kill them, you know? They鈥檙e going to be like, dead,鈥� Trump said during a roundtable at the White House with homeland security officials.
Lawmakers from both major political parties have expressed concerns about Trump ordering the military actions without receiving authorization from Congress or providing many details. Democrats have insisted the strikes violate international law.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything quite like this before,鈥� said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who previously worked in the Pentagon and the State Department, including as an adviser in Afghanistan.
鈥淲e have no idea how far this is going, how this could potentially bring in, you know, is it going to be boots on the ground? Is it going to be escalatory in a way where we could see us get bogged down for a long time?鈥� he said.
But Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, who has long been involved in foreign affairs in the hemisphere, said of Trump鈥檚 approach: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about time.鈥�
While Trump is a president who 鈥渙bviously hates war,鈥� he also is not afraid to use the U.S. military in targeted operations, Diaz-Balart said.
鈥淚 would not want to be in the shoes of any of these narco-cartels,鈥� he added.
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Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Ben Finley and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
