Trending 
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has claimed that the US is “fabricating a new war,” following its decision to send the world’s largest warship to the Caribbean.
The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier, capable of carrying up to 90 aircraft, represents a significant increase in the US military’s presence in the area. The US has carried out ten airstrikes against boats in the region as part of its declared campaign against drug traffickers.
US President Donald Trump has labelled Maduro as the head of a drug-trafficking operation, a charge that Maduro refutes, and there are concerns in Venezuela that the US military escalation is intended to oust Trump’s long-standing adversary.
The US does not acknowledge Maduro as Venezuela’s president, following the last election in 2024, which was condemned internationally and by the opposition within Venezuela as neither free nor fair. Venezuela has a relatively minor involvement in the regional drug trade.
In a statement released on Friday, the Pentagon announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier would be deployed to the US Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which encompasses Central and South America and the Caribbean.
According to spokesman Sean Parnell, the additional forces “will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organisations.”
In his speech, Maduro accused the US of wanting a new war.
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war,” in an address to state media.
The carrier’s deployment would supply the necessary resources to begin conducting strikes against ground targets.
Trump has frequently suggested the possibility of what he refers to as “land action” in Venezuela.
