A US naval strike force centred around the world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford, has arrived in the Caribbean, the US Navy has confirmed. The arrival of the strike group, which was ordered to the region by President Donald Trump last month, comes amid ongoing strikes against alleged drug boats and tensions with Venezuela. The US has so far carried out at least 19 strikes against boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing at least 76 people. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan officials have accused the US of “fabricating” a crisis and seeking to topple the country’s left-wing socialist government. The aircraft carrier movement also comes amid tensions between the Trump administration and the Colombian government of President Gustavo Petro, whom Trump has characterised as “a thug and a bad guy”.Petro on Tuesday ordered his country’s public security forces to suspend intelligence sharing with US agencies until the boat attacks in the Caribbean stop.He wrote on X that the fight against drugs “must be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean people”.In a statement, the US Navy said that the strike group entered the area of responsibility of US Southern Command – which oversees Latin America and the Caribbean – on 11 November. The force includes the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, which itself includes more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of aircraft. The strike force also includes guided-missile destroyers and various other vessels. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that the force will “bolster US capacity to detect, monitor and disrupt illicit actors and activities that disrupt the safety and prosperity” of the US and will help “disrupt narcotics trafficking” and criminal groups in the region. The carrier group is joining substantial military forces already deployed in the region, including thousands of troops, a nuclear-powered submarine and military aircraft based in Puerto Rico. Collectively, they form the largest US presence arrayed in and around Latin America in decades. The US has continued to launch …
