The United States has formally launched a major military operation in Latin America, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, aimed at confronting so-called “narco-terrorists” amid a growing deployment of troops, warships, and fighter jets across the region. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the mission on Thursday, framing it as a measure to defend the homeland and disrupt drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
“Today, I’m announcing Operation Southern Spear. This mission defends our homeland, removes narco-terrorists, and secures our nation from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth wrote on social media. The operation is led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear under the oversight of US Southern Command, which covers 31 countries in South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean.
Hegseth’s announcement follows reports of the US military striking 20 vessels in Caribbean and Pacific waters, killing four people in the most recent incident. Officials have stated these actions target drug-smuggling operations, though critics note the strikes have claimed roughly 80 lives to date, with limited evidence or legal justification provided. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the operations against European criticism, asserting that allies will not dictate how the US defends its national security.
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The military build-up includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, the US’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which is expected off the coast of Venezuela in coming days. Analysts say the presence of the carrier signals more than anti-drug operations, interpreting it as pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The country has mobilized nearly 200,000 troops for a two-day readiness exercise, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez denouncing the US deployment as a “vulgar attack” on the sovereignty and peace of Venezuela and the region.
In the Caribbean, US Marines conducted artillery exercises aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, part of a broader effort to demonstrate military capability. Hegseth described the maneuvers as supporting the administration’s priorities to combat illicit trafficking, but experts caution that the scale of force deployed far exceeds what would typically be needed for counter-narcotics operations. Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group called the show of power “clearly a message geared towards pressuring Caracas,” rather than a practical anti-drug strategy.
The Southern Spear mission reflects a heightened US military presence in Latin America, intertwining counter-narcotics objectives with geopolitical signaling. As forces gather and tensions rise, both Washington and Caracas appear poised to test the limits of influence and power in a region already marked by longstanding political and security challenges.
