US Launches ‘Operation Southern Spear’ as Major Military Build-Up Intensifies Across Latin America

The United States has formally unveiled a new military campaign in Latin America, deepening what is already the largest US force deployment in the region in generations. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the initiative, Operation Southern Spear, on Thursday, framing it as a mission targeting “narco-terrorists” and defending the US homeland.

“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 wrote on X.
“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood, and we will protect it.”

Southern Command, whose remit spans 31 countries across South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, later posted video of US Marines firing artillery from the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean. The drills were described as direct support of President Donald Trump’s priorities to “disrupt illicit drug trafficking.”

The announcement came hours after CNN reported the US military had carried out its 20th strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel, killing four people earlier this week. An unnamed Pentagon official told the broadcaster there were “no survivors.” At least 80 people have now been killed in similar attacks in the Caribbean and Pacific, though Washington has not provided evidence that the boats were carrying drugs or any legal basis for lethal action.

Criticism from European allies has been growing. But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed it, saying, “Europeans will not dictate how Washington chooses to defend US national security.”

Operation Southern Spear is unfolding alongside a dramatic surge in American firepower headed toward Venezuela’s coastline. The USS Gerald R Ford, the largest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the world, is expected to arrive within days, a move widely viewed as a direct threat to President Nicolas Maduro, despite Washington’s insistence that the build-up targets drug networks.

Speaking on state TV, Maduro accused the US of constructing “false narratives” to justify killings at sea and escalate regional tensions.

“Since they cannot say we have hidden biological or chemical weapons, they invent a bizarre narrative,” he said.

Venezuela’s military has mobilised nearly 200,000 troops for readiness exercises, calling the US deployments an “imperialist threat.” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said the American presence was a “vulgar attack against the sovereignty and peace” of Venezuela and the wider region.