Biggest US Carrier arrives near Venezuela amid Military Pressure

America's most advanced aircraft carrier has entered the Caribbean Sea, signaling a significant escalation in U.S. military presence as the Trump administration continues its campaign of strikes against vessels suspected of trafficking drugs.

The Navy announced Sunday that the USS Gerald R. Ford-the flagship of the U.S. fleet-arrived in the region alongside additional warships. The deployment marks a major milestone in what officials describe as a counter-narcotics mission, though many observers see it as increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Since early September, U.S. forces have conducted 20 strikes, killing at least 80 people on small boats the administration claims were involved in drug smuggling in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The Ford, previously seen sailing into Norway's Oslofjord in September 2025, now completes the largest concentration of U.S. naval power in the Caribbean in decades. Under Operation Southern Spear, nearly a dozen Navy ships and roughly 12,000 sailors and Marines are now in the region.

According to the Navy, the carrier strike group-which includes fighter jet squadrons and guided-missile destroyers-transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, moving into position as the operation intensifies.