Hegseth unveils Operation Southern Spear with Venezuela tensions high

Derek Wallbank and Courtney McBride, Bloomberg News on Nov 13, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a new operation against “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere, signaling that the U.S. may be prepared to step up a campaign of deadly airstrikes against vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.

In his post on social media, Hegseth named the effort as Operation Southern Spear, but offered no further information about what the operation would entail or whether it presaged a fresh round of attacks. The Defense Department in January had announced an identically named operation described at the time as a robotics-based counter narcotics effort.

Asked for clarity, the Pentagon referred back to Hegseth’s social media post and said the joint task force he referenced was one that had been set up in October to “synchronize and augment counter-narcotics efforts across the Western Hemisphere,” according to a news release at the time.

Hegseth said Operation Southern Spear is a mission that “defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”

“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it,” Hegseth said.

But speculation has swirled that the U.S. may be preparing to strike targets in Venezuela. The U.S. has called its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, illegitimate and the head of a narco-trafficking network.

Hegseth’s announcement comes in the wake of a massive military buildup in the region that was capped this week by the arrival of an aircraft carrier strike group. President Donald Trump has also repeatedly threatened attacks on land following the strikes against boats allegedly ferrying drugs in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean.