The waters off Latin America have become the stage for one of the most dramatic and controversial U.S. military operations in recent years, as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies its campaign against alleged drug trafficking and ramps up pressure on Venezuela’s government. The deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, to the Caribbean on November 16, 2025, is only the latest—and perhaps most visible—move in an escalating series of actions that have left both regional leaders and international observers on edge.
Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted at least 21 strikes against boats it claims were smuggling drugs, killing more than 80 people, according to The Associated Press. The Pentagon said that on November 15, a U.S. strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific killed three people, and just a day later, the Gerald R. Ford arrived in the Caribbean, bringing the total number of U.S. troops in the region to around 12,000 across nearly a dozen Navy ships. The operation, now formally named "Operation Southern Spear," represents the largest U.S. naval presence in Latin America in decades.
President Trump has justified the strikes and the military buildup as a necessary response to drug cartels he labels as "foreign terrorist organizations." In January, he signed an executive order paving the way for groups like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua to be designated as such, and in February, eight Latin American crime organizations received the same label. The administration has argued that these groups, and by extension the governments that allegedly support them, are responsible for flooding the U.S. with narcotics and for fostering violence in the region.
But the scope and legality of the strikes have drawn sharp criticism at home and abroad. Lawmakers from both parties have questioned the administration’s legal authority to conduct lethal operations without congressional approval. "The U.S. military is not empowered to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial," said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a September floor speech. The United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Türk, has gone further, calling for an investigation into the strikes and stating, "The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats."
Despite these concerns, efforts in Congress to rein in the administration have so far failed. Senate Republicans have twice voted down legislation that would have required President Trump to seek congressional authorization before ordering further military strikes, most recently on November 6. Democrats, meanwhile, have complained about a lack of transparency, with Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, noting that Republicans were briefed on the boat strikes while Democrats were left in the dark.
On the ground—or rather, at sea—the operation has been relentless. The U.S. Southern Command claims that intelligence has confirmed the vessels targeted were involved in narcotics smuggling along known trafficking routes. Still, the administration has not released evidence to support its assertions that those killed were "narcoterrorists," fueling accusations from human rights groups and some lawmakers that the strikes amount to extrajudicial executions. According to The Hill, former national security adviser John Bolton commented on the confusion surrounding the White House’s objectives, saying, "If it’s simply about illegal narcotics, that’s one thing, but it seems to be about overthrowing Maduro. Why else bring the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group from the European theater to the Caribbean? Trump has now put the gun on the table. The question is, is he going to use it or not?"
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, who faces narcoterrorism charges in the U.S., has repeatedly accused Washington of using the drug war as a pretext for regime change. On November 13, he called on Trump to "unite for the peace of the continent," urging, "No more endless wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan." As tensions have ratcheted up, Venezuela has mobilized troops and volunteers for two days of exercises, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López declaring that the country’s military is "stronger than ever in its unity, morale and equipment."
The Trump administration’s strategy has not been limited to military muscle. On November 16, President Trump told reporters, "We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk." The president’s remarks, echoed by his earlier statements and by Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement of designating Cartel de los Soles—a group the U.S. claims is headed by Maduro—as a foreign terrorist organization, have added a layer of diplomatic intrigue to the unfolding crisis. "Headed by the illegitimate Nicolas Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," Rubio said in a social media post, though he did not provide evidence for these claims.
International reaction has been mixed. In Trinidad and Tobago, just seven miles from Venezuela’s coast, officials have welcomed joint military exercises with the U.S., seeing them as a way to address violent crime tied to drug shipments. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the drills as part of a broader effort to tackle the region’s security challenges. Meanwhile, critics in the region and beyond warn that the U.S. buildup is a dangerous provocation that risks sparking a wider conflict.
The shadow of history looms large over the current standoff. For many in Latin America, memories of past U.S. interventions—from the Bay of Pigs to more recent actions in the Middle East—fuel skepticism about Washington’s intentions. Maduro himself has accused the U.S. of "fabricating a new eternal war" against his country, while on social media he insisted, "the Venezuelan people are ready to defend their homeland against any criminal aggression."
As "Operation Southern Spear" continues, the world is left to wonder: Is this the prelude to a new military confrontation in the Americas, or a high-stakes game of brinkmanship aimed at forcing diplomatic concessions? For now, the only certainty is that the stakes—for Venezuela, the United States, and the broader region—could hardly be higher.
