U.S. troops ramp their presence in Central and South America as President Maduro mobilizes forces : NPR
Venezuela continues to prepare its military in response to the growing regional presence of the US military in the region.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The nation’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is sailing around the world, but has now entered waters under the control of U.S. Southern Command. This is the military command focused on Central and South America. The move highlights growing tensions with Venezuela as the United States strengthens its presence in the region. All of this follows several rounds of deadly military strikes against boats and ships carrying people the Trump administration has labeled narcoterrorists. Venezuelan authorities say this intensification is a pretext for regime change in their country. To learn more, we’ll visit NPR’s Carrie Kahn in neighboring Ecuador. Hi, Carrie.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Do we know where the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford is now?
KAHN: Not exactly. In a statement, the Pentagon said the massive ship was now under the jurisdiction of Southern Command, which encompasses a very large region near Latin America. But the expectation is already a significant American military presence in the Caribbean. To date, these assets have struck 19 small boats suspected of drug trafficking and killed at least 76 people, all of whom the United States says were suspected drug traffickers.
Critics question the legality of these strikes and say that even before the Gerald R. Ford arrives, there is already too much firepower in the region if all you do is interdict these so-called small-time drug traffickers. And they say it looks more like a show of force aimed at ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a longtime U.S. target.
DETROW: What did Maduro say in response to all of this?
KAHN: He made a big show of announcing what he called this national plan to defend the homeland, including calling in troops or forces. His Minister of Defense estimates this figure at 200,000 men. It’s unclear if this is even possible. Vladimir Padrino, the defense minister, said Venezuela did not want war.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VLADIMIR PADRINO: (speaking Spanish).
KAHN: But he says that if the United States actually attacks Venezuela, it will have to go through a very determined people, prepared to defend themselves to the death. It was broadcast repeatedly on state television. He has been distributing weapons, moving what looks like very obsolete military equipment and sounding the alarm since last night.
DETROW: What has been the response across the region to the continued buildup of the U.S. military?
KAHN: Neighboring Colombia has been the strongest critic of U.S. President Gustavo Petro, a fellow leftist, who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration. Trump called him an illegal drug dealer. Petro says Colombia will no longer provide drug intelligence to the United States, and that’s a big cause, because for decades Colombia has been the United States’ staunchest ally in the so-called war on drugs. The United States has spent billions to cooperate with Colombia. A former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, James Story, tells me that without Colombia’s cooperation, the United States is at a serious disadvantage.
JAMES STORY: …Because it’s the country of origin for most of the cocaine that flows north, as well as a fair amount of heroin. And if we don’t see what’s happening on the ground in Colombia, we won’t be as successful in stopping these drugs from reaching the United States.
KAHN: Britain says it will no longer cooperate on certain intelligence exchanges with (inaudible) because of the U.S. ship strikes. An official who was not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that overall intelligence sharing remained strong, but that some U.S. requests were being refused because they did not fit with British foreign policy. The French foreign minister also condemned the attacks. He calls this a violation of international law. And these two countries of course have territories in the Caribbean.
DETROW: This is NPR’s Carrie Kahn joining us from Ecuador. Thank you so much.
KAHN: You’re welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the terms of use and permissions pages on our website at www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. The text of the transcript may be edited to correct errors or match updates to the audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio recording.
