The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. Photo / US Navy
The United States is massing an unusual build-up of warships, fighter jets and surveillance aircraft off the coast of Venezuela as the Trump Administration expands its military campaign against what it says are transnational criminal organisations.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its associated warships are heading to the region, the Pentagon said on Saturday NZT, a significant expansion of the US presence.
The US already has warships, an expeditionary Marines unit, drones, fighter planes and surveillance aircraft in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
US forces have blown up at least 10 boats in the region since the start of September, killing at least 43 people.
The Administration has accused the people of smuggling deadly drugs into the US but has declined to provide evidence, drawing scrutiny from some lawmakers in Congress.
“So far, they have alleged that these people are drug dealers. No one’s said their name, no one’s said what evidence, no one’s said whether they’re armed and we’ve had no evidence presented,” Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said on Fox News.
Several of the strikes have been on vessels along a route used to ship marijuana and cocaine to Europe and West Africa.
Paul noted that drug-smuggling and related crimes have “typically been something we do through law enforcement”, not the military. “So at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings.”
The Administration now appears to be expanding the campaign.
After launching several strikes off South America’s Caribbean Coast, US forces last Wednesday attacked vessels off South America’s Pacific Coast. “The land is next,” US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
“They’ll be coming in by land a little bit more because they’re not coming in by boat anymore,” he told reporters.
“And we will hit them very hard when they come in by land. And they haven’t experienced that yet. But now we’re totally prepared to do that.”
Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the Tren de Aragua gang of trafficking drugs to the US. He has authorised the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct missions inside Venezuela.
The Administration informed Congress this month that the US is fighting a war against “narco-terrorism”. Officials have tried to justify the use of force by designating drug smuggling cartels in Latin America terrorist organisations.
“I think President Trump’s made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug-trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said on CBS.
He said the President told him that he “plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia about future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia. So there will be a congressional briefing about a potential expanding from the sea to the land.”
This is what we know about the US assets in the region and what they’re being used for.
The USS Gerald R. Ford and its associated warships have multiple offensive and defensive capabilities, including surveillance capacity that could be critical to an expanding operation.
The Ford is the world’s largest aircraft carrier. It typically carries dozens of fighter jets, helicopters and more than 4000 sailors.
During recent stops in Europe, the Ford was accompanied by the destroyers USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Bainbridge, but it wasn’t clear if those vessels would travel with it to the Caribbean.
The Navy and Marine Corps have deployed a task force off the coast of Venezuela.
A forward presence for Naval operations, it’s staffed by more than 4500 sailors and Marines.
The group includes guided missiles destroyers, an attack submarine, a Special Operations ship and reconnaissance aircraft.
The Pentagon has also deployed the MV Ocean Trader, a civilian ship converted into a floating base for special operations.
The ship can serve as both barracks and command centre for special operations forces in the area.
The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite helicopter unit that supports the world’s most dangerous missions, is also deployed in the area.
“Little Bird” helicopters typically used by this unit were identified operating less than 145km from the coast of Venezuela this month by a Washington Post visual analysis.
A US official told the Post the helicopters were engaged in training exercises that could serve as preparation for expanded conflict, including the possibility of missions inside Venezuela.
There were an estimated 10,000 US sailors and Marines in the Caribbean, based on the ships announced or acknowledged by the Pentagon.
The figure doesn’t include personnel in Puerto Rico, which likely make the total significantly higher.
Additional aircraft, including MQ-9 reaper drones and F-35 fighter jets, have been spotted at US bases in Puerto Rico, according to images and reporting published by Reuters.
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