United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced this Thursday (13) the so-called Operation Southern Spear, a military offensive launched on the orders of President Donald Trump to combat drug trafficking and transnational terrorism in Latin America.
According to Hegseth, the mission, which will be led by the US Southern Command (Southcom), aims to “defend American territory, eliminate narco-terrorists from our hemisphere and protect our homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.” The secretary, however, did not detail how the military offensives will be carried out nor which countries will be directly involved in the operations.
The operation marks an expansion of United States military actions in the region, where the Americans have already mobilized around 12,000 sailors and marines and almost a dozen warships, including the giant aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the most important US aircraft carrier, which recently arrived in the Caribbean to reinforce operations.
According to Associated Pressthe ongoing US military campaign in Latin America has already resulted in at least 19 attacks against vessels linked to drug trafficking, which left at least 76 people dead.
“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it,” Secretary Hegseth said during his X announcement.
According to the Newsweekthe announcement made this Thursday comes after a meeting at the White House, this Wednesday (12), in which Trump received new military options on possible operations within the territory of Venezuela, where the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro is accused of facilitating drug trafficking.
