#southern-command

#southern-command

Sunday's attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in small vessels in early September. As with most of the military's statements on the more than 40 known strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes.

The Trump adminstration has pledged a renewed focus on Latin America, which it has described as the 'Trump Corollary' to the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine which back then sought to ban European incursions in the Americas. The White House has billed the summit as the founding of the 'Americas Counter Cartel Coalition' which they described as a new military partnership with leaders in the region.

The decision to send humanitarian assistance to Cuba was announced during a press conference on Friday to mark the end of the four-day Caribbean Community (Caricom) meeting in St Kitts and Nevis, which secretary of state Marco Rubio attended to discuss US relations with Caribbean governments.

The DEA is in Bolivia, he said. Just as the DEA is now present, we also have cooperation from European intelligence and police bodies. Oviedo explained that the initial focus of the law enforcement efforts would be to tighten border surveillance and dismantle trafficking networks.

At the direction of the commander of U.S. Southern Command, Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted three lethal kinetic strikes on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations, Southern Command said in the statement, which as has become customary was accompanied by a video showing the boats exploding after being hit by a missile. Intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations, it added.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued notices to airlines, urging them to exercise caution over Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as Ecuador and Colombia, due to military activities. On Friday, the FAA released a series of advisories that come amid an ongoing US military buildup in the Latin America region, including US military attacks on Venezuela, and US President Donald Trump's warning to Cuba and threats of strikes against drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia,

The US military on Thursday said it killed two people in a strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal drugs in the eastern Pacific. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the US Southern Command posted on X. It added that "no US military forces were harmed" in the operation. The statement did not offer any evidence that the boat pictured was actually carrying narcotics before it was blown up in the attack.

Some personnel have been advised to leave the United States military's Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by Wednesday evening, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting three diplomats. The report comes amid warnings from the US that it could intervene in protests currently taking place in Iran. It's a posture change and not an ordered evacuation, one diplomat said, adding that they were not aware that a specific reason had been given for the posture change.

Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations, the Southern Command said in a statement. The command included a video of the strike with its announcement, which shows a boat traveling through the water as it explodes into flames after being hit with what looks like a missile. The Southern Command and the Pentagon did not immediately return requests for additional information.