Pentagon sending aircraft carrier to Latin America

The U.S. military is sending the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on social media Friday.



The U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility includes the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea.



The deployment was made "in support of the President's directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland," Parnell said on X.



"These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs," he said.



Local analysts view the move as an indication that the Trump administration intends to broaden its anti-cartel campaign, shifting from targeting small vessels in international waters to potentially striking land-based operations across Latin America.



The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean is already the largest in the region in more than three decades, since the American invasion of Panama, according to a Wall Street Journal report.