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The Ford rounds off the largest in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear" mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.

The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said.

Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to "protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.�

Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region.�

Holsey, after just a year on the job, said the strike group's deployment is "a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.�

In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun “training exercises� with the U.S. military that will run through much of the week.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. military strikes.

The exercises will include Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit who have been stationed aboard the Navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela's coast for months.

Venezuela’s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment Sunday on the arrival of the aircraft carrier.

The administration has insisted that the buildup is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.� Trump has , saying the U.S. would "stop the drugs coming in by land.�

The U.S. has to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country. Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective for in a push to get him to step down.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States does not recognize Maduro, who was , as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela's government a “transshipment organization� that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.

Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is “fabricating� a war against him. Venezuela’s government recently touted a “massive� mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.

Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the U.S. is in while claiming the boats are operated by .

He has faced pushback from , the and U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for and the legal justification for the boat strikes.

Senate Republicans, however, recently voted to on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

Experts disagree on whether or not American warplanes may be used to strike land targets inside Venezuela. Either way, the 100,000-ton warship is sending a message.

“This is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,� said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for the Andes region. “And it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.�

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Associated Press writers Anselm Gibbs in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Gabriela Molina in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.