Overview
- U.S. Southern Command confirmed the carrier strike group has entered its area of responsibility covering Latin America and the Caribbean, with the ship’s exact position undisclosed.
- Pentagon and Southcom statements say the deployment aims to detect, monitor and interdict illegal actors, dismantle transnational criminal organizations and counter what they describe as narco‑terrorism.
- The Ford was redeployed from the Mediterranean in recent weeks as Washington concentrated additional naval assets near Latin America.
- U.S. forces have carried out at least 20 attacks in international waters on suspected smuggling boats, with at least 76 people reported killed and no public evidence presented that the vessels carried drugs.
- Venezuela has reinforced its forces and begun ‘Plan Independencia 200’ exercises, and President Nicolás Maduro has labeled the recent killings illegal ‘executions’.