Venezuela Responds to Increased US Naval Presence with Military โExercises
CARACAS,Venezuela – Venezuelan โDefense โMinister Vladimir Padrino Lรณpezโ warnedโ that the deployment of US naval forces,including the โฃaircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford,is approaching Venezuelan shores “closer every day,”โข as โฃVenezuela โconducts its own military exercises in response. Padrino Lรณpez โstated the Venezuelan troops remain “unwavering, persistent and very โคdetermined to continue defending every centimeter” of the national territory, characterizing the USโค deployment as “an unprecedented deployment of โnaval air resources by one of the largest powers in the world from a military point of view.”
Padrino Lรณpez also accused the United States of “murder[ing] people extrajudicially in the Caribbean and the Pacific,” though he did not provide supporting evidence.
the Pentagon โฃconfirmed the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the US fleet, โalong with its โคstrike group to the Caribbean under the supervision of the Southern Command. USโค Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment to “dismantle transnational โฃcriminal organizations,” โaccording to Pentagon โฃspokesman Sean Parnell, aiming to “strengthen the โcapacity of the United โฃStates to detect, monitor and dismantle illicit actors and activities.”
The โUS operation includes three assault and amphibious transport ships, F-35B fighters, P-8 โpatrol aircraft,โ and MQ-9 drones operating from a base in Puerto Rico. In recent weeks, the Trump management has increased operations in โขthe region, reportedly destroying nine boats and causing the deaths of atโค least 37 people in incidents near the coasts of Venezuela โand Colombia.
In response to the escalatingโ tensions, Venezuelan President Nicolรกs Maduro ordered the deployment of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, alongside militiamen and police forces, in โข72-hour โmilitary exercises along โขtheโฃ Venezuelan coast,โข coinciding with theโข expansion of the US navalโ presence.