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WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Friday ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to counter drug-trafficking organizations in Latin America, a major escalation of a US military buildup that Venezuela’s leader warned was steered at “fabricating a war.”
US President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise of ending foreign military interventions, in early September launched a military campaign targeting boats allegedly used to smuggle narcotics, destroying at least 10 vessels in a series of strikes.
But the American military buildup as part of that campaign — including 10 F-35 stealth warplanes and eight US Navy ships — has sparked fears in Venezuela that Washington’s ultimate goal is the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro, and the decision to send the carrier is certain to add to those concerns.
Late Friday, Maduro accused the Trump administration of stoking “a new eternal war.”
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we are going to prevent,” Maduro told state broadcasters.
The US-Venezuela standoff has also pulled in Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a sharp critic of the American strikes who was sanctioned by Washington on Friday for allegedly allowing drug trafficking to flourish.
The deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford and accompanying ships “will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement, referring to transnational criminal organizations.
The carrier announcement came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an overnight strike on a boat alleged to be operated by Venezuelan drug trafficking gang Tren de Aragua had killed six people in the Caribbean Sea.
“If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,” Hegseth said on X.

The latest military action brings the death toll from the US strikes to at least 43, according to an AFP tally based on US figures, but Washington has yet to release evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics.
Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign, with Caracas accusing the United States of plotting to overthrow Maduro, who said earlier this week that Venezuela had 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces.
On Thursday, at least one US B-1B bomber flew over the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, flight tracking data showed, following a show of force by multiple US B-52 bombers that circled off the country’s coast last week.
Colombia’s Petro — who has accused Trump of murder over the strikes on the alleged drug boats — was sanctioned by the US Treasury on Friday along with his wife and son.
Regional powerhouse Brazil has also weighed in on US actions, with a senior foreign policy adviser telling AFP that the country views a military intervention in Venezuela as unacceptable, fearing it could be damaging for the whole of South America.
“We cannot accept an outside intervention because it will trigger immense resentment,” said Celso Amorim, aide to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “It could inflame South America and lead to radicalization of politics on the whole continent.”
Trump meanwhile said Thursday that he did not need a declaration of war from US lawmakers to attack Venezuela or other countries he accuses of involvement in the drug trade, warning that strikes on land are coming.
“The land is going to be next,” Trump said, likening drug cartels to the brutal Islamic State jihadist group.

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said on Friday he believes his country, the United States and Ukraine are close to a diplomatic solution to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Speaking to CNN after arriving in Washington for talks with US officials, Dmitriev said that a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin had not been canceled, as the US president described it, and that the two leaders will likely meet at a later date.

The planned summit was put on hold on Tuesday, as Russia’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations. Trump said he canceled the planned meeting with Putin in Budapest because of a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts toward ending the war and a sense that the timing was off.

On Fox News’ “Special Report” program, Dmitriev also said he does not believe that recently imposed US sanctions on Russian oil companies will have a significant impact on the Russian economy.

“We do not believe that these sanctions will have significant impact on the Russian economy, because oil prices in the world will rise and Russia will sell just fewer gallons of oil, but at the higher price,” he said.

However, Dmitriev on Friday said, “I believe Russia and the US and Ukraine are actually quite close to a diplomatic solution.”
Dmitriev in his comments did not offer details of what this would entail. European nations are working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire in the war along current battle lines, European diplomats told Reuters this week, mainly incorporating ideas already under discussion while pressing to keep the United States in a central role.
“It’s a big move by President Zelensky to already acknowledge that it’s about battle lines,” Dmitriev said. “You know, his previous position was that Russia should leave completely — so actually, I think we are reasonably close to a diplomatic solution that can be worked out.”
Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war. But Putin has been unwilling to consider concessions.

Russia has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire. Dmitriev’s visit to the United States for a long-planned meeting takes place against the backdrop of newly announced US sanctions on two of Russia’s biggest oil companies — a move aimed at pressing Putin to end the war.
Despite the move, Dmitriev said dialogue between Russia and the United States will continue.
“It is certainly only possible if Russia’s interests are taken into account and treated with respect,” Dmitriev earlier told Reuters.
Dmitriev declined to say who he was meeting.

The US news outlet Axios reported that Dmitriev would meet Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. The Russian state TASS news agency quoted Dmitriev as saying he would also meet other people who he did not name.