Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford and five accompanying strike group destroyers to deploy to Central and South America, a U.S. military spokesperson said Friday.
“The increased presence of U.S. forces in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will enhance the United States’ ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illegal actors and activities that undermine the safety and prosperity of the U.S. homeland and the security of the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell said in a social media post, Al Jazeera reported.
But the deployment signals a level of military power that goes far beyond the Trump administration’s stated goals of combating drug trafficking, and comes as the United States takes a tougher stance on Caracas, which has long been the target of American ire.
The United States already has about 6,000 sailors and marines on eight warships in the region, and will now be joined by the USS Gerald Ford and five destroyers in the Strike Group, with an additional 4,500 troops. The aircraft carrier is currently in the Mediterranean Sea, and it is unclear when it will arrive in Latin America.
MNA/