US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a military operation that he said would target "narco-terrorists" in the Western Hemisphere.
"Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people," Hegseth said on Thursday in a post on X.
The US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is the US military's combatant command that encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean.
"The Western Hemisphere is America's neighborhood – and we will protect it," Hegseth added in the post.
The US military has carried out 20 strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific in recent weeks on boats Washington claims are ferrying drugs.
The latest took place in the Pacific over the weekend and left six people dead.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Justice Department had drafted a classified opinion in July laying out the legal basis for the strikes that shields personnel taking part from potential future prosecution.
President Donald Trump's administration has said in a notice to Congress that the United States is engaged in "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels, describing them as "terrorist groups" as part of its justification for the strikes.
Fears in Venezuela
The US government has not publicly explained the legal justification for its decision to attack the boats. It has provided no evidence that the boat occupants were traffickers, and rights groups say the strikes are illegal even if they were.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has urged Washington to investigate the legality of the strikes on the alleged drug-running boats, saying there were "strong indications" they constitute "extrajudicial killings."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pushed back against criticism from some US allies over the legality of the strikes, saying Europeans don't get to dictate how Washington defends its national security.
The Trump administration has built up significant military forces in Latin America in what it says is a campaign to stamp out drug trafficking.
On Tuesday, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, entered the area under control of the US Naval Forces Southern Command, which encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean, the command said in a statement.
Venezuela fears the deployment, which also includes F-35 stealth warplanes sent to Puerto Rico and six US Navy ships in the Caribbean, is plot in disguise to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Caracas has called a major, nationwide military deployment to counter the US naval presence off its coast.
Its Defense Ministry in a statement spoke of a "massive deployment" of land, sea, air, river and missile forces as well as civilian militia to counter "imperial threats."
