Overview
- The Navy confirmed Sunday that the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group moved into the Caribbean, expanding Operation Southern Spear to nearly a dozen ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
- Commanders framed the move as bolstering efforts against “narco‑terrorism,” though analysts note a carrier is better suited for power projection than drug interdiction.
- Since early September, roughly 20 U.S. strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 80 people, with no public evidence released to show the targets were traffickers.
- Legal and human-rights experts say the killings could constitute extrajudicial executions, while lawmakers have sought justifications even as a Senate bid to curb presidential authority failed.
- Venezuela has mobilized forces and denounced U.S. drills with Trinidad and Tobago, as President Trump signals possible expansion to land interdictions and Reuters reports internal White House meetings on Venezuela options.