A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in Latin America on Tuesday, escalating a military buildup that Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict as it announced its own deployment.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, entered the US Naval Forces Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean, the command said in a statement.

The vessel’s deployment was ordered nearly three weeks ago to help counter drug trafficking in the region.

Its presence “will bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

President Donald

See Full Page