President Donald Trump ’s administration intensified the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday, announcing the deployment of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America in a show of force surpassing past counter-narcotics operations and marking Washington’s strongest move in the region to date.

The deployment, which adds to the eight warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft already in the region, marks a significant escalation amid heightened tensions with Venezuela, whose government Washington has long accused of harbouring drug traffickers and undermining democratic institutions.

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and

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