United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced a new US military campaign aimed at targeting “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere.
“Today, I am announcing Operation Southern Spear,” the Pentagon boss announced on social media platform X on Thursday.
“Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission protects our homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our hemisphere, and secures our homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” he said.
Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is one of the U.S. Army’s eleven unified combatant commands tasked with contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for 31 nations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
US campaign against drug trafficking
Last week, the USS Gerald R. Ford – the world’s largest aircraft carrier – arrived in waters off the Caribbean and Latin America, adding to an already massive naval gathering in the region.
Washington has said its military presence in the region is aimed at curbing international criminal gangs to protect the United States from illegal drugs.
As part of its campaign against drug trafficking, the US has launched military attacks on several vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, claiming they are “drug boats”. Dozens of people have been killed in the attacks.
Maduro claims US is ‘engineering’ war
The US actions have increased tensions in the region, especially with Venezuela.
Washington claims the smugglers have ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro has denied the allegations and instead claimed that the US is “creating a new war”.
They allege that the American military buildup is to oust them from power.
According to Maduro, the US naval deployment in the region is “the greatest threat our continent has faced in the last 100 years.”
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko