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The US Southern Command released images on Friday of a lethal kinetic attack on a boat in international waters in the Caribbean on Monday 10 November. The four crew members on board were “killed”, the US administration confirmed, bringing the total to nearly 80 dead in more than 20 attacks since the operation began in August off the Venezuelan coast.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth officially dubbed the mission ‘Southern Lance’, justifying it as an action to combat drug trafficking from Latin America. The deployment includes approximately 10,000 troops and the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the Pentagon’s largest flagship, positioned near Venezuelan waters.
According to the ‘Washington Post’, Trump met Friday in the Oval Office with Pentagon officials to discuss “a range of options” including escalating attacks. An official quoted by the newspaper said US forces “are preparing for possible attack orders” and are awaiting new operational guidelines.
Trump moves forward without revealing details
When asked by reporters about his next military action on Venezuela, Trump said, “I can’t tell you what it would be but I sort of made up my mind.” He added that they have “made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping the massive influx of drugs”, although he did not elaborate on his plans.
US officials quoted by the Washington Post said that Trump is “very good at maintaining strategic ambiguity” and that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “is very scared and should be scared”, given the range of “damaging” options on the table. In October, Trump had already stated that he did not rule out possible strikes on ground targets in both Venezuela and Colombia.
Venezuelan response and regional tension
The Venezuelan government condemned the ‘Operation Southern Spear’ and called it a “pretext for intervention”. For his part, Maduro has called on the population to prepare for an eventual “armed struggle” and announced the deployment of 200,000 military personnel in the country.
In a speech broadcast on state television, Maduro made a direct appeal to the American people: “Stop the crazed hand of those who order bombing, killing and war in South America, in the Caribbean”. The Venezuelan leader drew parallels with other conflicts: “Do we want another Gaza now in South America,” questioned the Chavista leader.
Tension in the region continues to rise as Washington does not rule out new military operations and the international community observes with concern the escalation of war in the Caribbean.
