Global & US Headlines
USS Gerald R. Ford Strike Group Enters SOUTHCOM Waters in Largest Latin America Buildup Since 1989
On 11 Nov 2025, the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group formally joined U.S. Southern Command forces, expanding Washington’s regional footprint to Cold-War levels and sharpening military pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro government.
Focusing Facts
- Deployment adds a 100,000-ton carrier, three destroyers, and 4,000+ sailors to an existing force of roughly 15,000 U.S. personnel, eight warships, and a nuclear submarine already in the Caribbean.
- Since September, U.S. forces have executed at least 19 maritime strikes on suspected drug-running vessels, killing an acknowledged 76 people.
- On 7 Nov 2025, the Senate failed 49-51 to pass a War Powers resolution that would bar Trump from attacking Venezuela without congressional approval.
Context
Washington has periodically coupled anti-narcotics rhetoric with power projection—recall 1989’s Operation Just Cause, when the U.S. used a carrier to topple Panama’s Noriega under the banner of drug enforcement. Earlier still, the 1904 Roosevelt Corollary asserted a policing right in the hemisphere. Today’s deployment echoes that legacy: the White House cites ‘narco-terror’ while openly mulling regime change. Structurally, it reveals two longer arcs: (1) the re-militarisation of U.S. Latin America policy after a post-Cold-War lull, and (2) the steady expansion of presidential war-making latitude despite 1973’s War Powers Act—here underscored by the Senate’s narrow refusal to constrain Trump. Whether shots are fired ashore or not, placing the Navy’s most advanced carrier off Venezuela normalises great-power naval presence in a region long considered a U.S. sphere; over the next century this could entrench a precedent for using counter-crime mandates to justify interstate coercion, much as ‘freedom of navigation’ became a global rationale after the 1960s. If history rhymes, the immediate show of force may oust no leader, but the institutional momentum—bases revived, commands enlarged, legal interpretations stretched—can outlast the crisis, shaping hemispheric security relationships for decades.
Perspectives
Right-leaning, Trump-aligned outlets
The US Sun, NTD — Cast the carrier’s arrival as a decisive extension of Trump’s "war on drugs" that will safeguard the U.S. homeland and speed the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s regime. Cheerlead U.S. military power, parrot Pentagon rhetoric, and play down civilian deaths, constitutional hurdles, and wider regional blowback.
Anti-war / libertarian critics
News From Antiwar.com — Warn that the deployment is a prelude to an illegal war to forcibly remove Maduro, highlighting lack of Congressional authorization and risk of wider instability. Focus on constitutional and anti-intervention arguments while giving scant attention to narcotics trafficking claims or Maduro’s alleged wrongdoing.
International mainstream news agencies
Reuters-sourced INews Guyana, BBC, The Irish Times — Describe the build-up as the biggest U.S. military presence in the region since 1989, noting the stated anti-narcotics mission yet emphasizing the heightened tensions and regional unease. Lean on official U.S. statements and generic analysts, potentially normalizing Washington’s narrative while offering limited scrutiny of legal or humanitarian repercussions.