Trump moves Navy strike group toward Venezuela

Military officials relocated one of the military’s strongest Navy strike teams to the Caribbean to combat so-called narco-terrorists, according to a Friday statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group will operate out of the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, which includes the entirety of South America and the waters surrounding it.

What motivated the move? The relocation supports President Donald Trump’s directive to dismantle criminal organizations and narco-terrorists smuggling drugs into the country, according to Parnell. The Trump administration repeatedly blamed Venezuelan gangs for feeding America’s drug epidemic and accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of supporting the cartels, despite Maduro’s repeated denials. The Trump administration previously deployed military aircraft and Navy destroyers near Venezuela in August, and offered $50 million for Maduro’s arrest.

The Trump administration started regularly launching airstrikes on suspected drug trafficking boats on the open ocean. Hours before the strike group relocation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released footage of what he said was a strike on international waters that killed six suspected narco-terrorists. The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua operated the vessel along a known route in the Caribbean, according to Hegseth. People smuggling drugs into this hemisphere will be treated like al-Qaeda, he added.

The Trump administration also targeted boats from Colombia, another country flagged by the administration for drug trafficking. Trump decided on Monday to cut all U.S. payments and subsidies to Colombia as a result of what he described as its government’s lackluster crackdown on drugs.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report for more about Trump ending Colombia’s support.