Jesus Daniel Romero, former Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence of the U.S. Southern Command, for FinGurú
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the technological jewel of the United States Navy, sails today through the Caribbean as part of a deliberate hemispheric deterrence strategy. Its presence is not a mere military exercise, but a response to a regional context where Venezuela has become the axis of the most relevant geopolitical conflict on the American continent.
Since the Treasury Department designated the Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization (SDGT) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2025), the Caribbean has ceased to be a commercial corridor and has transformed into a multidomain security operational theater. The reorientation of the Gerald R. Ford from the Mediterranean to this region confirms that Washington has redefined its strategic priorities: the maritime border of the United States now begins in the island arc of the Caribbean.
This deployment is not symbolic. It is a calculated response to the convergence of three threats: the narco-terrorism of the Cartel of the Suns, the geopolitical penetration by extra-hemispheric actors (Russia, Iran, and China), and the political instability caused by allied authoritarian regimes in the region. In this chess game, Venezuela not only exports drugs and corruption: it exports destabilization.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is not just an aircraft carrier: it is an aeronaval warfare ecosystem. With more than 4,500 crew members, 24/7 air operations, and over 220 daily takeoffs and landings, it embodies the concept of deliberate planning and multidomain synchronization (Department of Defense, 2020; 2019). On board, four main kitchens feed the crew four times a day, and each flight cycle turns the ocean into a living combat runway, reminiscent of scenes from Top Gun, but with the prec...
The technological leap is visible in its electromagnetic launch system (EMALS), which replaces traditional steam catapults. This advancement reduces mechanical wear, improves energy efficiency, and enables the launch of lighter or unmanned aircraft, elevating the operational capacity of the embarked air group (U.S. Navy, 2023).
The Ford operates integrated under the Joint Task Force, alongside destroyers, amphibious ships, and ISR support aircraft. This framework of combined warfare—coordinated from unified command centers—materializes the doctrine of Distributed Lethality (Rowden, Gumataotao & Fanta, 2015), where each platform, manned or unmanned, contributes to collective firepower and strategic denial.
As the USS Gerald R. Ford crosses the Caribbean waters, the geopolitical implications are evident. Its presence symbolizes not only the projection of American power but also the warning that the maritime space of the Western Hemisphere is once again an active strategic theater. In a context where the Cartel of the Suns was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization (SDGT) by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department (U.S. Depart...
Regional efforts against drug trafficking find a broader justification: protecting the U.S. coasts against an asymmetric threat that combines transnational crime and terrorism. The UNODC estimates that by 2024, Colombia maintained 250,000 hectares of coca crops, consolidating its role as the world's leading producer (UNODC, 2024). Maritime interdiction ceases to be merely a tactical action and becomes a strategic operation for hemispheric defense.
The Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier represents not just a tool of war: it is a message. Its deck, its catapults, and its aircraft embody the United States' will to maintain balance in the Western Hemisphere under the logic of strength, control, and presence. The joint doctrine supporting it—planned under the frameworks of JP 3-30 and JP 5-0—marks the return of deliberate warfare as an instrument of regional stability.
Conclusion
The deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean marks the rebirth of maritime strategic deterrence in the Western Hemisphere. In an era of hybrid threats, where organized crime, terrorism, and information warfare converge, U.S. naval power redefines its role: not just as a tool of war but as an architecture of regional stability.
The Distributed Lethality applied from the sea symbolizes Washington's new mindset: to disperse force, integrate domains, and project precision where democratic sovereignty demands it. Each takeoff from its deck is more than a tactical exercise; it is a declaration of presence against criminal networks, authoritarian regimes, and state actors that threaten collective security.
The Gerald R. Ford is, in essence, the floating frontier of freedom. Its presence in the Caribbean reminds us that regional balance depends not only on treaties or speeches but on the real capacity to act, prevent, and deter. As the hemisphere faces an asymmetric threat disguised as politics, trade, or diplomacy, the United States Navy reaffirms its founding principle: peace is guaranteed through prepared strength.
Jesús Romero retired after more than 37 years of service in the U.S. government. He enlisted in the Navy in 1984, earned his officer degree from Norfolk State University, and was designated Naval Intelligence Officer. He also served in the Army as an Intelligence Operations Specialist. He quickly rose through the military ranks and had a distinguished career in both civil service and diplomacy. He became an officer through the Navy's Limited Duty Officer Program, graduating with honors from Norfolk State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He later graduated from the Naval Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination course at the Naval Aviation Schools Command and completed his intermediate training in squadrons VT-10 and VT-86. He served aboard a nuclear missile cruiser, amphibious operations ships, and staff squadrons, a fixed-wing bombing squadron, and an embarked air wing. He was deployed in Libya, Bosnia, Iraq, and Somalia. He conducted missions at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Panama, the Joint Intelligence Center, Pacific in Hawaii, and the Joint Personnel Recovery Coordination Cell (JPCRCC). Jesús led U.S. government operational efforts to locate missing U.S. personnel, with access to Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam for research and recovery operations.
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