Within the framework of maritime security operations promoted by Washington in the Caribbean, the United States Navy continues strengthening its presence in the region with the deployment of a guided-missile cruiser and a nuclear attack submarine. Recently, the U.S. Navy ordered the deployment of the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) and the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine USS Newport News (SSN-750), which will arrive in the area at the beginning of next week, as part of a broader effort aimed at confronting the threat posed by drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
The USS Lake Erie is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, equipped with the AEGIS combat system and capable of launching land-attack, anti-air, and anti-ship missiles. Its deployment in the Caribbean constitutes a sign of Washington’s determination to maintain a rapid and flexible response capability in the face of possible contingencies, while at the same time reinforcing surveillance over the maritime routes used for drug trafficking toward North America.
For its part, the USS Newport News is a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, powered by nuclear energy. With a wide capacity for deterrence and covert operations, this unit can carry out intelligence missions, target tracking, and precision strikes with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Its presence in the Caribbean reinforces the submarine dimension of the U.S. strategy, hindering the action of criminal groups and sending a political message of naval power in the region.
This move adds to a larger deployment that had already included the sending of an amphibious squadron composed of the San Antonio-class ships USS San Antonio (LPD-17) and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28), together with the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7). In total, around 4,500 personnel were mobilized, among them 2,200 Marines. In parallel, last month the presence in nearby waters of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers —USS Gravely (DDG-107), USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) and USS Sampson (DDG-102)— was reported, as well as the littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS-21), all integrated into maritime security operations against drug trafficking.
U.S. Southern Command has indicated that these operations seek to neutralize the so-called “narco-terrorist organizations,” among them the Sinaloa Cartel and the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, both designated as global terrorist organizations by the Trump administration. Although U.S. authorities have not given precise details about the mission of each naval unit, the concentration of surface ships, air assets, and submarines reflects a sustained effort to increase pressure on criminal groups in the region.
From Caracas, President Nicolás Maduro harshly rejected the U.S. naval deployment, calling it an “imperial provocation” and assuring that Venezuela will defend its maritime and territorial sovereignty. Although no official statements were issued by the Ministry of Communication, the president’s speech made clear the diplomatic tension generated by the intensification of Washington’s naval presence off the Venezuelan coasts.
This type of operation is not new. In 2020, Southern Command launched one of the largest naval maneuvers in the Caribbean in decades, with the participation of destroyers, support ships, and maritime patrol aircraft. Since then, periodic patrols have been maintained that combine interdiction objectives against organized crime with the projection of U.S. power in its zone of strategic influence. With the arrival of the cruiser USS Lake Erie and the submarine USS Newport News, Washington reaffirms its strategy of maritime control and comprehensive deterrence in the Caribbean, a key scenario in regional geopolitics.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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