"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."
The US has positioned multiple warships off Venezuela's Caribbean coast since late August, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. The mission received the name Operation Southern Spear from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. US forces have carried out strikes against boats the government labels drug-smuggling vessels, with one early September attack followed by 19 additional incidents claimed by US authorities. The official purpose is to stop drug trafficking from South America to the United States and to remove what Hegseth called 'narco-terrorists.' Venezuela and other regional governments view the deployments as provocative, fearing threats to national sovereignty and possible military intervention.
Read at www.dw.com
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