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The world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford has reached Caribbean As if a war is being waged against drug traffickers donald trumpThe administration has been threatened to escalate the matter.
Ford’s deployment was announced on 24 October, and its strike group departed Croatia on 4 November, crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic and entering the U.S. Southern Command area of ​​responsibility on Tuesday.
The group includes nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Eight, as well as the guided missile destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan, and the missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill, according to air force times,
They will join eight other Navy ships already deployed to the region, including USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, USS San Antonio, USS Lake Erie, USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravelly, USS Stockdale and USS Wichita.
The Ford hosts 60 aircraft and an estimated 4,000 sailors, with an additional 6,000 personnel spread across the eight ships it already has.
The US military presence in the area also includes a submarine, reconnaissance aircraft, 10 F-35 fighter planes and Reaper drones. According to ABC News,
Meanwhile, an AC-130J gunship and two other reconnaissance aircraft have been spotted through satellite imagery operated from a satellite. El Salvador Military base near that country’s international airport, possibly for use in operations against cartels.
“These forces will enhance and enhance existing capabilities to disrupt drug trafficking and disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organisations,” said Sean Parnell. pentagonChief spokesperson said in a statement.
Adm. Alvin Holsey of Southern Command, who is stepping down at the end of the year for undisclosed reasons, said, “Through unwavering commitment and the precise use of our forces, we stand ready to confront international threats that seek to destabilize our region.”
This move is being seen as a show of strength against the Venezuelan President Nicolas MaduroWhom the administration has accused of being involved in illegal drug trade. Nevertheless, critics have argued that most drugs smuggled from Latin America to the US come by land route. Mexico Or through the Pacific, not the Caribbean.
B-52s and B-1s have flown into the area in recent weeks, and a special operations aviation unit has conducted training exercises in international waters near Venezuela Last month, two gestures that were equally interpreted as warnings.
The Trump administration began firing on boats in the Caribbean on September 2 and has since expanded its attacks in the eastern Pacific. At least 75 people killed in 19 attacks On alleged smuggling boats.
It has justified its actions by claiming that it is preventing illegal narcotics from reaching US shores, while failing to provide evidence to support its claims.
Human rights groups and international law experts have warned the governments of both countries that these killings are illegal. Venezuela And Colombia The administration has been accused of engaging in extrajudicial killing, and, on Tuesday, the U.K. Ended sharing of regional intelligence With the US, expressing disapproval over its actions.
Additionally, lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties have pressed the administration for more information about who is being targeted and the legal basis for its conduct.
By way of response, Trump has insisted that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict”. drug cartelrelying on the same legal authority used by George W. Bush When the administration declared a “war on terrorism” after the al-Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001.