The US Navy’s cutting-edge aircraft carrier made its presence known in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, showcasing American military strength. This move has sparked curiosity about the Trump administration’s plans in South America, particularly as it ramps up military actions against vessels suspected of drug trafficking.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, accompanied by other naval ships, was highlighted in a Navy statement. This event signifies a pivotal phase in what the administration describes as a counterdrug operation. However, it is also viewed as a mounting pressure maneuver against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Since September, US military strikes have resulted in at least 80 fatalities across 20 assaults on small boats believed to be smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The arrival of the Ford completes the most significant assembly of US military might in the area in decades. Operation Southern Spear now boasts nearly a dozen Navy vessels and approximately 12,000 sailors and Marines.

The carrier strike group, which features fighter jet squadrons and guided-missile destroyers, navigated through the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, according to the Navy.

Admiral Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilise our region.”

Holsey, who will retire next month after just a year on the job, said the strike group’s deployment is “a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.”

In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 12km from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun “training exercises” with the US military that will run through much of the week.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the US military strikes.

Venezuela’s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment on Sunday about the arrival of the aircraft carrier.

The Trump administration has insisted that the build-up of American forces in the region is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the US, but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.”

Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the US would “stop the drugs coming in by land.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says his country does not recognise Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela’s government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.

Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the US, has said the American government is “fabricating” a war against him. On his Facebook page, Maduro wrote on Sunday that the “Venezuelan people are ready to defend their homeland against any criminal aggression.”

Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the US is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terrorist organisations.