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The United States has announced a new military campaign in Latin America as Washington expands its naval and air presence across the region, prompting sharp warnings from Venezuela.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the operation, called Operation Southern Spear, aims to target what Washington describes as “narco-terrorists.”
“Today, I'm announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR,” Hegseth said in a post on X. “This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”
He did not provide further details on the scope or structure of the mission.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to elaborate and referred inquiries back to Hegseth’s statement.
The announcement comes as the U.S. carries out a sweeping military campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, deploying naval and air forces under what it calls an anti-drug offensive.
U.S. forces have struck about 20 vessels in international waters since early September, killing at least 76 people, according to U.S. figures.
CNN reported this week that a U.S. strike on a suspected smuggling vessel on Monday killed four people, with “no survivors.”
SOUTHCOM said on social media that U.S. Marines conducted artillery training in the Caribbean aboard the USS Iwo Jima, supporting President Donald Trump’s priorities to disrupt drug trafficking and “protect the homeland.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed criticism from G-7 partners over the strikes, saying Europeans “will not dictate” how the United States defends its national security.
Venezuela has condemned the growing U.S. military presence, describing deployments as a threat to its sovereignty.
The Venezuelan government announced a nationwide military mobilization earlier this week in response to the U.S. naval build-up, which includes six U.S. Navy ships, F-35 warplanes sent to Puerto Rico, and the expected arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier off Venezuela's coast.
President Nicolas Maduro accused Washington of inventing “bizarre narratives” to justify strikes in regional waters. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez called the U.S. deployment a “vulgar attack against the sovereignty and peace” of Venezuela and the broader region.
The Venezuelan military says nearly 200,000 troops have been mobilized for a two-day readiness exercise.
Analysts say the U.S. military escalation in Latin America is unprecedented in decades.
The International Crisis Group’s Elizabeth Dickinson told the Associated Press that an aircraft carrier “brings nothing useful for combating the drug trade,” adding the move appears aimed at increasing pressure on Caracas.
The Venezuelan government maintains that the U.S. deployments are a pretext for possible land strikes or broader operations in the region.
Trump administration officials have reportedly reviewed updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including land-based military actions, CBS News reported Thursday.
As tensions grow, both Washington and Caracas accuse each other of destabilizing the region, with Operation Southern Spear marking the latest escalation.
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