The Pentagon announced on Friday that it will send an aircraft carrier to South American waters.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy.
He assigned the group to U.S. Southern Command to counter illicit activity and smuggling.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted that deployment on social media.
The USS Ford currently operates in the Mediterranean with five destroyers in its strike group.
Sending a carrier dramatically raises U.S. force levels in the Caribbean and off Venezuela.
Night Strikes Increase Tensions
Hours before Parnell’s post, Hegseth reported the military conducted its tenth strike on a suspected drug boat.
The strike killed six people and raised the total deaths since early September to at least 43.
Hegseth identified the targeted vessel as linked to the Tren de Aragua gang.
He noted the Trump administration again tied an operation to that prison-based gang.
Officials accelerated the strikes from weeks apart to three this week.
Hegseth said the latest strike occurred in international waters and happened at night.
He said, “If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like Al-Qaeda.”
He declared, “Day or night, we will map your networks and track your people.”
“We will hunt you down and kill you,” he added.
Venezuelan Focus and Regional Reactions
The administration linked several strikes to Tren de Aragua and blamed the gang for violence and drugs.
Republican officials claim at least four attacked boats originated in Venezuela.
Observers speculated the buildup aims to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The military flew two hypersonic heavy bombers near Venezuela’s coast on Thursday.
The administration says it targets drug trafficking, but Maduro calls the moves attempts to oust him.
Maduro praised security forces and militia for coastal defence exercises covering 2,000 kilometres.
Maduro said: “Not war. Just peace. Forever.”
He mocked the U.S. with another comment on Friday.
Analysts argue the U.S. uses drug-fighting as a pretext for political pressure in the region.
Dickinson said, “Drugs are the excuse.”
She added that regional capitals understand the message.
She warned the U.S. will use force against leaders who defy its aims.
Cartel Campaign Compares to Post-9/11 War
Hegseth’s rhetoric compared the strikes to the post-9/11 war on terror.
The Trump administration labelled drug cartels unlawful combatants earlier this month.
Officials said the U.S. operates under the same legal authority used after 9/11.
Reporters asked whether the president would seek a congressional war declaration against cartels.
Trump replied bluntly that he planned no formal declaration.
He said, “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country.”
He added, “They’re going to be, like, dead.”
