"What is Operation Southern Spear's goal? The official goal of the attacks on these "drug boats" in the Caribbean is to stop drug trafficking from South America to the US. In an X post on Thursday evening, Hegseth said that Operation Southern Spear, in conjunction with the US Southern Command, which is responsible for Central and South America, "removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.""
"The government in Caracas, among others in the region, sees this as both a provocation and direct threat to Venezuela's national sovereignty. The fear is that the US could use military means to overthrow the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) led by President Nicolas Maduro, which has ruled through increasingly authoritarian and anti-democratic means for more than a decade. Critics of US President Donald Trump suspect that these operations are a domestically motivated diversionary tactic."
US naval forces have deployed multiple warships to the Caribbean off Venezuela since late August, with the USS Gerald R. Ford reaching a provisional position. The mission was officially named Operation Southern Spear and aims to stop drug trafficking from South America to the United States. US officials reported a deadly attack on a suspected smuggling boat in early September and state that 19 additional attacks followed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the operation as removing "narco-terrorists" and securing the homeland from lethal drugs. Venezuela and regional actors view the deployment as a provocation and threat to sovereignty, while critics suggest political motives tied to domestic pressures on President Trump.
Read at www.dw.com
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