That United States of America has announced military operations in the Caribbean. According to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the so-called Southern Speer mission is intended to protect the United States from drug trafficking. The minister did not specify the attack or its location.
The military operation was led by a joint task force and US Southern Command. Their area of operations includes the Caribbean Sea and waters bordering Central and South America.
Officially, America justifies increasing military presence in the region Caribbean and the Pacific with the fight against transnational criminal organizations and drug trafficking. In recent months, the US military has repeatedly attacked ships in the region that the US says are suspected of carrying drugs. The US provided no evidence. Several people died in the attack. Recently, America relocated the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region.
The European Union recently criticized US actions
US actions in this region have received international criticism, also because the US government has not provided any legal basis for its actions. Recently, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the attack as a violation of international law. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the action could only be justified in self-defense or based on UN Security Council resolutions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied the accusations. “The European Union does not determine what international law is,” he said. “This certainly does not determine how the United States maintains its national security.”
South American countries view such behavior as threatening
Due to increasing tensions between the US and Venezuela, there has recently been speculation regarding the real reason for the carrier’s relocation to the region. Not only does Venezuela’s authoritarian government view the accumulation of additional military units in the Caribbean as a threatening act, but so do countries such as Colombia and Brazil.
US President Donald Trump recently confirmed that he had approved a covert operation carried out by the US foreign secret service CIA in Venezuela. The Trump administration accused Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro of being involved in drug smuggling to the United States.
