The United States has unveiled a new military campaign aimed at dismantling narco-terrorist networks across Latin America, amid mounting regional tension over increased American naval activity.
US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, announced the initiative named Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR in a statement released on Thursday.
“Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. This mission defends our homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our hemisphere, and secures our people from the drugs that are killing them,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
He did not provide further clarity on the scale or strategy of the operation, nor how it differs from ongoing US military activities in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Under President Donald Trump’s administration, Washington has been ramping up air and naval deployments in what it describes as an intensified anti-drug offensive.
According to US military figures, American forces have targeted about 20 vessels in international waters since early September, resulting in at least 76 fatalities.
When asked for additional detail on the newly announced operation, the Pentagon declined to elaborate and referred reporters back to Hegseth’s brief statement.
Meanwhile, CBS News reported on Wednesday that senior US military officials had presented President Trump with updated operational options for Venezuela, including potential land-based strikes.
In response to the heightened American presence, Venezuela this week announced a nationwide military mobilisation.
The government said the move was intended to counter what it views as a threatening buildup of US forces near its coastline — a deployment that now includes an aircraft carrier strike group, F-35 fighter jets stationed in Puerto Rico, and six US Navy ships in the Caribbean.
Officials in Caracas insist the military posture could be a precursor to efforts aimed at removing President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The Venezuelan administration warned that it perceives the actions as “a regime-change agenda in disguise.”
