(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) The world's largest warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived in Latin America on Tuesday, in what some analysts see as another step in the latest U.S. military escalation in the region. The U.S. Navy said in a statement Tuesday that the ship had entered the Southern Command area, which covers Latin America and the Caribbean, three weeks after it was ordered to deploy to the area. The United States has deployed its largest military buildup in decades in the Caribbean and has carried out a series of attacks against vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. There have been at least 19 attacks that have resulted in the death of at least 75 people in international waters.

The USS Gerald R. Ford joins other warships, a nuclear submarine, and F-35 fighter jets that have been operating in the area in recent weeks. Washington has not provided evidence of the alleged illicit use of those vessels or details about the people on board, and many observers believe that the use of military force is also an attempt to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US government accuses of being the head of a drug trafficking organization, in an effort to overthrow him. Maduro denies the accusations and has said that the United States“is fabricating a war” against Venezuela.

Venezuela and Colombia have warned that the military deployment could trigger a large-scale conflict, and speculation has increased about whether the U.S. will carry out direct attacks on Venezuelan soil. The Venezuelan government announced on Tuesday a nationwide military deployment to counter the US naval presence off its coast. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino reported that he had ordered“the full operational readiness” of all the country's military resources, and the massive deployment“of land, air, naval, river and missile assets; weapons systems; military units; the Bolivarian Militia; Citizen Security Organs and the Comprehensive Defense Commands.”

Capabilities of the USS Gerald R. Ford

According to the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford is“the most capable, versatile, and lethal combat platform in the world.” It entered service in 2017, in a ceremony attended by Trump, then in his first term. The ship's name honors the thirty-eighth president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. The aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered and measures over 335 meters in length. For comparison, HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest warship ever built by the UK, measures 280 meters. The USS Gerald R. Ford can weigh up to 100,000 tons. It cost about US$13 billion and carries weaponry such as ESSM self-defense missiles and the CIWS short-range weapon system. According to Reuters, the aircraft carrier can accommodate approximately 5,000 troops.

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