US deploys carrier, issues airspace warning, seizes oil tanker in latest Caribbean escalations

Washington continued ramping up its military deployment near Venezuela under Operation Southern Spear, the anti-drug trafficking campaign announced by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on November 13. The deployment now includes the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, over a dozen warships, and more than 15,000 US personnel, building upon what was already the region’s largest American naval presence since 1962.

The Ford strike group, composed of the carrier and three destroyers supported by an Air Force B-52 bomber wing, provides US planners with the ability to conduct rapid, long-range strike packages against targets inside Venezuela if authorized.

As the deployment expanded, US President Donald Trump directly contacted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and offered safe passage out of Venezuela if Maduro left power “right away.” In response, Maduro reportedly demanded total amnesty for himself and other Venezuelan officials and sanctions relief, which Washington rejected.

Publicly, Maduro dismissed the US buildup as a plan to “appropriate Venezuela’s oil reserves […] through the lethal use of military force.”

France and the UK challenge the legality of US actions

Tensions with European allies have grown after US forces sank several high-speed boats in the Caribbean, killing dozens of alleged drug traffickers. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned that the strikes “violate international law.”

In mid-November, London reportedly suspended certain intelligence-sharing with the United States related to suspected drug-smuggling vessels. While both the Pentagon and British officials declined to comment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the reports as “a false story.”

US officials have rejected the criticism from European officials, insisting that US interdictions were lawful and aimed at reducing cocaine flows that also affect Europe. Nevertheless, by mid-November, several governments, including France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Canada, were reviewing their cooperation with the US to prevent potential “complicity” in unlawful killings.

US issues NOTAM over Venezuelan airspace

The US-Venezuela standoff widened on November 21 when the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) warning that civil aircraft face a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela. The FAA cited increased military activity and required US airlines to provide 72 hours’ notice before entering Venezuelan airspace.

American Airlines and United Airlines canceled flights in Venezuela shortly after the notice. Caracas denounced the FAA warning as illegitimate and outside of US jurisdiction. Days later, on November 27, Venezuela’s civil aviation authority revoked the operating permits of six foreign airlines—TAP, Iberia, Avianca, LATAM Colombia, Turkish Airlines, and Gol—after they suspended service. Venezuelan authorities said these airlines had “joined actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States.”

Intensifying rhetoric from both governments

On November 29, Trump wrote on Truth Social that airspace “above and surrounding Venezuela” should be considered “closed in its entirety” to “Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers.” The remark raised questions about possible US airstrikes or the enforcement of a no-fly zone. Caracas condemned the message as a “colonialist threat.”

President Trump later downplayed the comment when questioned by reporters, stating, “Don’t read anything into it.” Nonetheless, Trump also reportedly said that ground operations in Venezuela could begin “very soon” to halt drug trafficking at its source.

Maduro responded to increasing US rhetoric at rallies, pledging “absolute loyalty” to the Venezuelan people and dancing to a remix of one of his speeches in which he said, “Neither a slave’s peace nor the peace of colonies,” a rejection of US intervention and influence.

Machado’s covert escape to accept the Nobel Peace Prize

María Corina Machado—the Venezuelan opposition leader who has been living in hiding since 2024 to avoid arrest—was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy work on October 10. Maduro’s government subsequently warned that Machado would be considered a fugitive if she attempted to leave the country due to the numerous treason charges she faces from the Maduro-controlled justice system.

Machado fled Venezuela clandestinely on December 9. With US assistance, she reportedly departed from a coastal hideout by boat, traveled to Curaçao, and boarded a private aircraft bound for Norway. “Many people risked their lives to make this possible,” Machado told Nobel organizers.

Machado ultimately missed the ceremony due to weather delays; her daughter accepted the prize on her behalf in Oslo.

US seizes oil tanker off Venezuelan coast

Tensions escalated further on December 10 when Trump announced that US forces had seized a large oil tanker near Venezuela’s coast. The operation, led by the US Coast Guard with Navy support, reportedly targeted the MT Skipper, a Guyana-flagged supertanker that US Attorney General Pam Bondi said was a “crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela to Iran.”

The seizure, which directly targets Venezuela’s chief revenue source, is the first such interdiction since the US buildup in the Caribbean began this year. Oil prices rose roughly 0.4 percent in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Washington argued that the move would restrict funds available to Maduro’s government, and Caracas called the interdiction an act of “international piracy.”

Samuel Ben-Ur is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.