The most advanced US aircraft carrier is expected to reach the waters off Venezuela in days, a flex of American military power not seen in Latin America for generations.
Experts disagree on the possibility that American warplanes will catapult off the USS Gerald R Ford to bomb targets inside Venezuela and further pressure authoritarian President Nicols Maduro to step down. Still, whether it may serve that purpose or only patrols the Caribbean as the US blows up boats it accuses of trafficking drugs, the presence of the 100,000-ton warship alone is sending a message.
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“This is the anchor of what it means to have US military power once again in Latin America,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region. “And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the US is to really use military force.”
The Ford’s impending arrival is a major moment in the Trump administration’s campaign in South America, which it describes as a counterdrug operation. It escalates the already massive buildup of military firepower in the region, with added pressure from bombe
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