October 1, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of U.S. military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration's intentions in South America as it conducts military strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in the administration's counterdrug operation. Since early September, U.S. strikes have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on small boats accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear" mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said.
Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to "protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.”
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region.”
Holsey, who will retire next month after just a year on the job, said the strike group's deployment is "a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.”
In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun “training exercises” with the U.S. military that will run through much of the week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. military strikes.
The exercises will include Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit who have been stationed aboard the Navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela's coast for months.
Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said Sunday that U.S. troops have been training in Panama, underscoring the administration’s increasing focus on Latin America.
“We’re reactivating our jungle school in Panama. We would be ready to act on whatever” Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth needed, he told CBS’ “Face the Nation."
The administration has insisted that the buildup of American forces in the region is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S. Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the U.S. would "stop the drugs coming in by land.”
The U.S. has long used aircraft carriers to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country.
“This is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region.
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