USA After attacks in the Caribbean: Pentagon announces operation
Following the deployment of the world's largest warship to the greater Latin American region and attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has announced a military operation.
14.11.2025, 02:02
SDA
This mission defends the homeland and protects the USA from drugs, wrote Hegseth, who is designated as Secretary of War by the US government, on the X platform. He gave the operation the name "Southern Spear".
The US minister did not name specific attacks or locations. The military operation is being led by a joint task force and the U.S. Southern Command, whose area of operations extends across the Caribbean Sea and waters bordering Central and South America.
Many dead after attacks on boats
The US justifies its military presence in the waters around Latin America with the fight against transnational criminal organizations and drug smuggling. In recent weeks, the US military has repeatedly attacked boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, which the US claims were loaded with drugs. Dozens of people have been killed in the process. The US actions have been met with international criticism, partly because the US government has not provided any legal basis for its actions.
Tensions with Venezuela
The US Navy had announced days ago that the world's largest aircraft carrier, the "USS Gerald R. Ford", had reached the region of the US Southern Command's area of operations. The warship had been withdrawn from the Mediterranean by the Pentagon.
Due to increasing tensions between the USA and Venezuela, there is speculation about the actual reason for the aircraft carrier's relocation to the region.
The government of US President Donald Trump accuses Venezuela's head of state Nicolás Maduro of being involved in drug smuggling to the USA. Not only the authoritarian Venezuelan government sees the deployment of additional military units in the Caribbean as a threatening gesture, but also countries such as Colombia and Brazil. Trump also recently confirmed that he had authorized covert operations by the US foreign intelligence agency CIA in Venezuela.
