ISTANBUL

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the world's largest aircraft carrier in the Caribbean on Thursday amid rising tensions with Venezuela.

During his remarks on the USS Gerald R. Ford, Hegseth celebrated the US’ Thanksgiving holiday and honored two National Guard members who were shot and critically injured near the White House on Wednesday.

He also served Thanksgiving dinner to troops deployed aboard the aircraft.

The visit came as Hegseth travels through the Caribbean, where he paid an official visit to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday and met with President Luis Abinader for talks on security cooperation.

The Gerald R. Ford and its strike group have been deployed to Latin America as part of what US officials describe as international counternarcotics operations, though Venezuela has disputed that.

The US recently designated the Cartel de los Soles, a criminal network Washington claims is directed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and senior officials, as a foreign terrorist organization.

Venezuela condemned the move as an attempt to manufacture a pretext for intervention.

US military operations against alleged drug trafficking in the Caribbean began in September with a strike on a Venezuelan speedboat. The campaign expanded to the Eastern Pacific by late October.

Since the start of the campaign, at least 21 attacks targeting drug traffickers have been carried out, resulting in at least 82 deaths, with no trial or due process to try to prove their innocence.