"The United States War Secretary Pete Hegseth spent Thanksgiving on the USS Winston S Churchill during a large US Navy deployment in the Caribbean as tensions with Venezuela continue to rise. "We're here to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving with a full and grateful heart. That’s it. All I can think of is I got a full heart. I wish every American could see this picture. And we have a few cameras that we hope to share, so that every American has a small understanding of what it takes to live free," Hegseth said. "You raise your right hand to defend the Constitution, and you do it every single day for Americans, most of whom you don’t know, from communities you’ve never been to," he added. The deployment began after an order in late October to send the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group and several destroyers, including the Winston S Churchill, to the Caribbean to increase US naval presence. Officially, the mission is to expand counter-narcotics efforts against criminal networks. Critics warn that the size of the military buildup may signal broader goals involving Venezuela's government. In response, Venezuela has increased its military preparations along its northern coast and deployed radar and air-defence systems. The Venezuelan government says the US buildup threatens its national sovereignty."