#US #AircraftCarrier arrives in the #Caribbean in major buildup near #Venezuela

The nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of US #military power, raising questions about what the new influx of troops & weaponry could signal for the #Trump admin’s purported drug enforcement campaign in #SouthAmerica.

#law #murder #Constitution #InternationalLaw #Congress #WarPowers #authoritarianism #despotism #Autocracy
apnews.com/article/aircraft-ca…

“The only reason to move it there is to use it against Venezuela,” Cancian surmised, adding that the Ford’s arrival means “the shot clock has started because this is not an asset they can just keep there indefinitely. They have to use it or move it. And moving it would mean they are standing down” from a potential attack on #Venezuela, he said.

#Trump #law #WarPowers #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #InternationalLaw #LawOfArmedConflict #authoritarianism #autocracy

Carriers are strategic assets, & the #US uses its fleet of 11 — many of which are in scheduled maintenance & not available to sail at any given time — for power projection & deterrence in its top-tier #security concerns, notably countering #China in the Indo-Pacific region & maintaining a deterrent presence in the #MiddleEast, said Mark Cancian, a senior #defense adviser at CSIS.

#Trump #law #Venezuela #WarPowers #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #InternationalLaw #authoritarianism #autocracy

The Ford & its 3 accompanying #warships arrived in the region Tuesday, the Navy said in a news release. The ships were not yet in the #Caribbean Sea but had crossed into the #US #SouthCom’s jdx, a vast area that also includes part of the #Atlantic Ocean & drug smuggling routes in the #Pacific used by cartels based in #Colombia & neighboring #Ecuador.

#Trump #law #Venezuela #WarPowers #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #InternationalLaw #LawOfArmedConflict #authoritarianism #autocracy

The USS Gerald R. Ford #AircraftCarrier has entered waters near #LatinAmerica, prompting #Venezuela to put the entire country’s #military arsenal at the ready as the #US naval buildup fuels speculation that the #Trump admin intends to dramatically escalate its deadly counternarcotics campaign there.

#law #WarPowers #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #InternationalLaw #LawOfArmedConflict #authoritarianism #autocracy
washingtonpost.com/national-se…

Venezuelan #military preparing #guerrilla response in case of #US attack

#Venezuela is deploying #weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, & is planning to mount a guerrilla-style resistance or sow chaos in the event of a US air or ground attack, according to sources with knowledge of the efforts & planning documents seen by Reuters.

#Trump #law #WarPowers #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #InternationalLaw #LawOfArmedConflict #authoritarianism #autocracy
reuters.com/world/americas/ven…