2025-10-24 19:50
publication
2025-10-24 19:50
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on Friday the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to support the fight against drug cartels. The decision comes after the announcement of an operation against gangs on land.
“In support of the President's directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and combat narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland, the Secretary of War directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and deployed an airlift squadron to the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility,” Parnell said in a statement. The Southern Command's area of responsibility extends to all Latin American countries except Mexico.
Parnell announced that Increasing the presence of U.S. forces “will strengthen and expand existing capabilities to combat drug trafficking and to disrupt and dismantle drug cartels”.
The announcement of the decision comes a day after US President Donald Trump announced strikes against cartels on land and after the 10th deadly attack on a speedboat suspected of transporting drugs off the coast of Venezuela. On Thursday, US forces also flew B-1 bombers towards Venezuela.
On Thursday, President Trump announced that he would soon inform Congress of his intention to use force against drug cartels also on land. However, he stated that he would not request a formal declaration of war.
I don't think we should necessarily demand a declaration of war. I think we'll just kill people. Okay? We will kill them. They will be, you know, dead, the president said.
Although Trump did not specify where he planned to strike, he has said in the past that he may launch attacks against gangs inside Venezuela. Most attacks on boats believed to be carrying drugs took place off the country's coast. The Trump administration accuses the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, of masterminding drug smuggling.
When later asked whether the planned operations would result in the deployment of US troops on the territory of foreign countries, Trump did not answer the question, but mentioned Mexico and Colombia as countries with particular problems.
– Colombia is a drug den and has been like that for a long time. “We have a bad leader there now, a bad guy, a bandit, they are producing cocaine on an unprecedented scale, and then they are selling it and they won't get away with it for a long time,” the president said. – Colombia is very bad. Mexico is ruled by cartels, he said.
USS Gerald R. Ford is the newest and largest aircraft carrier in the US Navy. With a displacement of over 100 thousand tons takes on board over 75 combat aircraft. Like other units of this class, it operates together with escort and supply ships. Typically, such a grouping includes several destroyers or frigates, often reinforced with a cruiser and submarines. They are accompanied by logistic ships. In total, there may be up to 8,000 people on board of such a grouping. soldiers.
From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
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