US to send aircraft carrier to Caribbean as fears of invasion rise in Latin America

Washington imposes sanctions on Colombia's President, whom Donald Trump has accused of involvement in drug trade

An F-18E fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Gerald R in the North Sea. The Pentagon is sending the vessel to the Caribbean. AFP

The US is sending an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean in an effort to combat drug trafficking in the area, according to the Pentagon on Friday, as fears of a land invasion of Venezuela rise.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Gerald R Ford carrier strike group would be sent to “detect, monitor and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States”.

“These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs [transnational criminal organisations],” the statement said.

This comes after the US carried out yet another strike on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, killing six.

The series of attacks on fast boats operating in the region has killed about 40 people since the campaign was launched in September.

In a post on X, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said it was the first strike carried out at night. He added that the targeted vessel was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which the US has designated as a foreign terrorist organisation.

“We will track them. We will map them. We will network them. We will hunt them and kill them,” Mr Hegseth said at an event at the White House on Thursday. “They are trying to poison the American people.”

Concerns are rising in Latin America that the US is considering attacks on land and regime change in Venezuela, which Washington accuses of propping up drug cartels.

US President Donald Trump has indicated that the US could soon launch land strikes against Venezuela. On Thursday, the US flew two supersonic B-1 bombers up the Venezuelan coasts, and earlier this month, authorities in Caracas reported that a group of American fighter jets had breached Venezuelan airspace.

Mr Trump claims he does not need to ask Congress for a declaration of war. “I think we're just going to kill people who are bringing drugs into our country,” he said this week. “We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like, dead.”

A bipartisan war powers authorisation effort in the Senate, which would have ended the strikes unless approved by Congress, failed earlier this month. Senators supporting the effort said the White House has given little clarity and failed to respond to questions about the intelligence and justification behind the strikes.

Politicians from Spain and several Latin American countries have released an open letter demanding peace and respect for countries' sovereignty amid the “imminent threat” of a land invasion of Venezuela.

The letter, released on Thursday, said the US is “intensifying a dangerous military escalation along the coasts of Venezuela, deploying naval forces in the Caribbean in preparation for a possible armed intervention”.

“This declaration represents the collective will of our peoples: resolving our differences through dialogue and co-operation, and not through violence and intervention,” stated the letter, carried by Spanish news agency EFE.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has a $50 million US bounty on his head due to his alleged ties to drug trafficking, has ordered a series of military exercises on the coasts.

Still, he said on Thursday that his country wants peace.

“No to war,” he said in Spanish, before adding in English: “Yes, peace, forever, forever.”

While the majority of strikes have been conducted off the coast of Venezuela, at least one has occurred in the Pacific, near Colombia – whose relations with the US are growing increasingly fractious due to disagreements over trade, immigration, Gaza and now the strikes.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the US of committing murder in the strikes, saying the attacks breach international law. At least one Colombian has been killed in the strikes.

Mr Trump has called Mr Petro a “thug” and accused him of being involved in the drug trade.

On Friday, the US imposed sanctions on Mr Petro, along with his wife and son, for failing to curb drug trafficking in Colombia.

“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation.”