US aircraft carrier group arrives near Latin America

A US naval strike force centred around the world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford, has arrived in the Caribbean, the US Navy has confirmed.

The arrival of the strike group, which was ordered to the region by President Donald Trump last month, comes amid ongoing strikes against alleged drug boats and tensions with Venezuela.

The US has so far carried out at least 19 strikes against boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing at least 76 people.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan officials have accused the US of “fabricating” a crisis and seeking to topple the country’s left-wing socialist government.

In a statement, the US Navy said that the strike group entered the area of responsibility of US Southern Command – which oversees Latin America and the Caribbean – on November 11.

The force includes the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, which itself includes more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of aicraft. The strike force also includes guided-missile destroyers and various other vessels.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that the force will “bolster US capacity to detect, monitor and disrupt illicit actors and activities that disrupt the safety and prosperity” of the US and will help “disrupt narcotics trafficking” and criminal groups in the region.

The carrier group is joining substantial military forces already deployed in the region, including thousands of troops, a nuclear-powered submarine and military aircraft based in Puerto Rico.

Collectively, they form the largest US presence arrayed in and around Latin America in decades.

The US has continued to launch strikes on alleged drug boats in the region. The Trump administration says the attacks are necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the US.

Earlier this week, the US announced it had conducted two additional strikes in the Pacific, killing six people.

The boat strikes have caused tensions to rise with the governments of Colombia and Venezuela, and led to concerns from some observers about violations of human rights and due process.

Earlier in November, Trump downplayed suggestions he was planning to topple the Venezuelan government or start a war.

In an interview with CBS – the BBC’s US news partner – Trump said that “every single boat that you see that’s shot down kills 25,000 on drugs and destroys families all over our country.”

Pushed on whether the US was planning any strikes on land, Trump refused to rule it out, saying: “I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that… I’m not gonna tell you what I’m gonna do with Venezuela, if I was gonna do it or if I wasn’t going to do it.”