The U.S. Navy’s newest and most powerful aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is expected to reach the Caribbean early next week, marking a dramatic escalation in the American military buildup near Venezuela amid growing speculation over possible U.S. strikes against Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
The $13 billion supercarrier sailed west through the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday morning, ship-spotters confirmed, making about 15 knots and accompanied by the destroyer USS Bainbridge, according to The Maritime Executive. A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft provided long-range surveillance as the Ford entered the Atlantic, with a supply ship operating nearby. The destroyer USS Mahan, last seen crossing the strait on Oct. 31, is believed to be along to support the carrier force.
At its current speed, the Ford is projected to come under U.S. Southern Command authority around Monday, joining what defense analysts describe as the largest concentration of American firepower in the Caribbean in decades.
The deployment follows President Donald Trump’s order less than two weeks ago to redeploy the Ford from the Mediterranean — a move the Pentagon publicly framed as part of an expanded counternarcotics mission, but which many observers interpret as the prelude to a potential strike campaign against Venezuela.
“These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, adding that the Ford’s arrival would strengthen “ongoing maritime security operations” in the region.
The Ford’s crossing with only one or two visible escorts is unusual for an ocean transit of such a valuable vessel. But once it reaches the Caribbean, it will join a growing task force that already includes four surface combat vessels and two amphibious ships.
According to estimates cited by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. military will soon have 13 vessels in the region — including eight warships, three amphibious vessels and a nuclear-powered submarine. Newly arrived cruisers USS Gettysburg and USS Lake Erie have joined other American ships already operating near Venezuelan waters.
While officially described as a counternarcotics deployment, the buildup coincides with intensifying White House deliberations over possible direct action against Maduro’s regime. The Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal both reported that the Trump administration has identified Venezuelan military installations allegedly tied to drug-trafficking networks as potential bombing targets.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that Trump is weighing a broader set of intervention options, including seizing oil fields, targeting Maduro’s elite guard units and even forcibly removing the Venezuelan leader from power.
The administration has not sought a formal declaration of war from Congress. Instead, senior advisers are said to be exploring alternative legal justifications for regime-change operations under existing anti-drug authorities, arguing that Maduro and his inner circle function as key nodes in transnational narcotics networks.
A growing confrontation
As Washington amasses what some Latin American officials have dubbed an “armada” in the Caribbean, tension is mounting across Venezuela — where many citizens, torn between fear and hope, see the Ford’s arrival as a symbolic threshold. For some, it signals that the next phase of Trump’s campaign against Maduro could soon begin.
Speaking Wednesday at the America Business Forum on video in Miami, top opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — Venezuela’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate — delivered a strong endorsement of Trump’s strategy, calling it “absolutely correct” and a turning point in the hemisphere’s struggle against tyranny and organized crime.
In August, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the U.S. had doubled to $50 million the reward for Maduro’s capture, calling him “one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers and a threat to our national security.” Bondi said Maduro heads the Cartel de los Soles, a drug-trafficking organization embedded in Venezuela’s military, and works with groups including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, and other transnational criminal networks.
Inside Venezuela, the regime is scrambling to reinforce its defenses. According to internal U.S. intelligence documents cited by The Washington Post, Maduro has appealed directly to Russia, China and Iran for urgent military aid to rebuild his weakened armed forces. The requests reportedly include radar systems, drone technology, aircraft repairs and possibly surface-to-air missile systems.
Russia has taken the lead in responding — Maduro personally sent a letter to the Kremlin — but China is also weighing new military assistance, the documents suggest. Beijing has already loaned billions to Caracas and supplied surveillance and medical technology.
Analysts say the outreach underscores Maduro’s growing desperation. Years of corruption, economic collapse and sanctions have hollowed out Venezuela’s military, leaving it reliant on foreign partners. The timing of his appeal to Moscow, Beijing and Tehran, however, has heightened U.S. alarm and could accelerate Washington’s decision-making toward action.
The Ford’s strategic importance
Commissioned in 2017, the USS Gerald R. Ford is the first of its class — a next-generation, nuclear-powered supercarrier designed for sustained, high-tempo power projection. Capable of launching up to 75 aircraft, including F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers and E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, it is the largest and most technologically advanced warship ever built.
In operational terms, its arrival would give the U.S. unmatched air dominance across the Caribbean basin. From well beyond Venezuelan missile range, its carrier air wing could conduct precision strikes deep into the mainland, suppress air defenses, and maintain persistent surveillance and electronic warfare coverage.
Though U.S. officials maintain that no decision has been made regarding offensive operations, the symbolism of deploying America’s most formidable warship so close to Venezuelan waters is unmistakable.
Most defense analysts agree: It is highly improbable that the Ford was sent merely to patrol.
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