The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its strike group arrived in Latin America, nearly three weeks after they were ordered to join the U.S. forces building up in the Caribbean.
The U.S. Navy confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford arrived in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility on Tuesday. The ship is not yet in the Caribbean but will “augment” forces already there. The carrier group’s arrival marks a major escalation in the U.S. military’s buildup in Latin America over the fall. The Trump administration says that it is in an “armed conflict” with drug trafficking cartels it has designated foreign terrorist organizations.
Along with the aircraft carrier, the strike group includes three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan and USS Winston Churchill. That brings the number of Navy ships in the area into the double digits. Two destroyers that had deployed with the group earlier this year are instead operating near the Middle East, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s fleet tracker.
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The carrier, destroyers and aircraft squadrons will “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. Thousands of sailors and Marines are currently active in the Caribbean, under a mission targeting drug traffickers in the region.
The Ford can carry as many as 75 aircraft. It currently has three squadrons of F/A-18E fighter jets, one F/A-18F squadron, an electronic attack squadron and multiple helicopter squadrons onboard, the Navy said.
The Pentagon ordered the carrier group to leave the Mediterranean Sea and travel to the Caribbean on Oct. 24. The journey would take several days, but the Ford and its ships paused in their journey earlier this month, shortly after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. The ships held their position near Morocco for multiple days.
The U.S. has carried out 19 attacks on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, with an escalating pace. Nine of those occurred since the Ford and its carrier strike group received orders to head to the region. According to the figures the Trump administration and Pentagon have released, at least 76 people have been killed. The strikes have been carried out by MQ-9 Reaper drones, AC-130J gunships and fighter jets, CNN reported today. Three survivors have been reported, with two confirmed to be repatriated back to their home countries.
The strikes have also increased tensions between the United States and Venezuela, with the former accusing the latter of having a role in guiding or leading several cartels. Today, Venezuelan state TV announced a “massive deployment” of its military in a show of force against the American buildup. The United States also criticized Colombia’s government after its president accused one U.S. strike of happening in Colombian waters.
The Ford Carrier Strike Group joins several ships already active in SOUTHCOM’s area, including eight surface vessels, a fast-attack submarine and a ship that serves as a floating special operations base. The ships include the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, carrying the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. Additionally, the military has sent F-35 fighter jets and drones to Puerto Rico. AC-130J gunships were spotted at a base in El Salvador this month. Other forces, including special operations units, have been carrying out training in the Caribbean over the fall, but that has not been directly linked to the counter-drug forces.
