The United States has deployed one its aircraft carrier strike groups to the Caribbean but insists it is all part of its war on drug cartels in the region.
00:00In a statement on ex-formally known as Twitter, Chief Pentagon spokesperson and senior advisor Sean Parnell announced that, quote, in support of the President's directive to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland,
00:18the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command, USS Southcombe area of responsibility, end quote.
00:33Prime Minister Kamala Pesad-Besessa has offered no apologies for her administration's support on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago of the recent U.S. military presence in the Caribbean.
00:43Venezuela's government has claimed the recent deployment of the U.S. military in the region is aimed at regime change in Venezuela.
00:52On its Facebook page, Southcombe says U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the Southcombe mission, U.S. Department of War-Directed Operations,
01:02and the President's priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland.
01:07CNN is reporting that the Ford is a first-in-class carrier touted by the U.S. Navy as the largest warship ever built in the world.
01:17The Chief Pentagon spokesperson said that the enhanced U.S. force presence in the Southcombe AOR will, quote,
01:24bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States' homeland
01:34and our security in the Western Hemisphere, end quote.
01:38The Chief Pentagon spokesperson further said these forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.
01:50The Associated Press is reporting that the USS Ford carrier, which has five destroyers in its strike group, is now deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.
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