<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Deploying an aircraft carrier is a major escalation of military power in a region that has already seen an unusually large U.S. military buildup<\/a> in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela.<\/p>\n Hours before Parnell announced the news, Hegseth said the military had conducted the 10th strike on a suspected drug-running boat<\/a>, leaving six people dead and bringing the death count for the strikes that began in early September to at least 43 people.<\/p>\n The Pentagon told reporters it had nothing further to add beyond the statement.<\/p>\n Hegseth said the vessel struck overnight was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang<\/a>. It was the second time the Trump administration has tied one of its operations to the gang<\/a> that originated in a Venezuelan prison.<\/p>\n The pace of the strikes has quickened in recent days from one every few weeks when they first began to three this week, killing a total of at least 43 people since September. Two of the most recent strikes<\/a> were carried out in the eastern Pacific Ocean, expanding the area where the military has launched attacks and shifting to where much of the cocaine from the world\u2019s largest producers is smuggled.<\/p>\n In a 20-second black and white video of the strike posted to social media, a small boat can be seen apparently sitting motionless on the water when a long thin projectile descends, triggering an explosion. The video ends before the blast dies down enough for the remains of the boat to be seen again.<\/p>\n Hegseth said the strike happened in international waters and boasted that it was the first one conducted at night.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda,\u201d Hegseth said in the post. \u201cDay or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n US focus on Venezuela and Tren de Aragua<\/p>\n The strike drew parallels to the first announced by the U.S. last month by focusing on Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization<\/a> and blamed for being at the root of the violence and drug dealing that plague some cities.<\/p>\n While not mentioning the origin of the latest boat, the Republican administration says at least four of the boats it has hit have come from Venezuela.<\/p>\n The attacks and an unusually large U.S. military buildup<\/a> in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela have raised speculation that the administration could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n In the latest move, the U.S. military flew a pair of supersonic heavy bombers<\/a> up to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday. <\/p>\n The Trump administration maintains that it\u2019s combating drug trafficking into the United States, but Maduro argues that the operations are the latest effort to force him out of office.<\/p>\n Maduro on Thursday praised security forces and a civilian militia for defense exercises along some 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) of coastline to prepare for the possibility of a U.S. attack.<\/p>\n In the span of six hours, \u201c100% of all the country\u2019s coastline was covered in real time, with all the equipment and heavy weapons to defend all of Venezuela\u2019s coasts if necessary,\u201d Maduro said during a government event shown on state television.<\/p>\n The U.S. military\u2019s presence is less about drugs than sending a message to countries in the region to align with U.S. interests, according to Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group\u2019s senior analyst for the Andes region.<\/p>\n \u201cAn expression that I\u2019m hearing a lot is \u2018Drugs are the excuse.\u2019 And everyone knows that,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cAnd I think that message is very clear in regional capitals. So the messaging here is that the U.S. is intent on pursuing specific objectives. And it will use military force against leaders and countries that don\u2019t fall in line.\u201d<\/p>\n Comparing the drug crackdown to the war on terror<\/p>\n Hegseth\u2019s remarks around the strikes have recently begun to draw a direct comparison<\/a> between the war on terrorism that the U.S. declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown on drug traffickers. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n