Global & US Headlines
Pentagon Launches 'Operation Southern Spear' and Parks USS Gerald R. Ford off Venezuela
On 14 Nov 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally re-branded the two-month U.S. Caribbean strike campaign as “Operation Southern Spear,” signaling an expanded, carrier-backed offensive against alleged narco-terrorists in Latin America.
Focusing Facts
- Hegseth’s X post at 19:42 EST on 14 Nov 2025 unveiled the operation, citing President Trump’s direct order and SOUTHCOM/Joint Task Force Southern Spear leadership.
- Pentagon officials confirmed the 20th U.S. strike on a suspected smuggling boat on 10 Nov, bringing the tally to ≈80 killed since September.
- The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group—with ~12,000 personnel and a dozen ships—arrived in the southern Caribbean this week, the region’s largest U.S. naval deployment since the 1962 Cuban blockade.
Context
Washington has invoked drugs to justify force before: in December 1989 it invaded Panama (“Operation Just Cause”) to seize Manuel Noriega, also branded a trafficker. Naming today’s mission echoes that playbook while layering 21st-century tools—robotic vessels and long-range strikes—onto the nearly half-century “War on Drugs.” The move reprises the Monroe Doctrine’s 1823 logic that the Western Hemisphere is a U.S. security sphere, but it collides with a century-long trend toward multilateral rules on use of force; even G-7 allies are questioning the legal basis for the extrajudicial killings at sea. If the campaign drifts from maritime interdiction toward land attacks in Venezuela, it could reset regional power balances much as the 1898 Spanish-American War redrew Caribbean geopolitics. Over a 100-year horizon, this episode may prove a watershed in normalising autonomous, lethal policing outside declared warzones—a precedent whose implications for sovereignty and international law could outlive the current drug routes or even the Trump administration itself.
Perspectives
Right-leaning U.S. media
NTD, PJ Media — Cast Operation Southern Spear as a bold, necessary move ordered by President Trump to defend the homeland and wipe out “narco-terrorists” in America’s backyard. Cheerleads the Trump administration while skirting civilian-death counts and legal doubts, reflecting partisan alignment and a tendency to echo official talking points.
Skeptical international outlets
Al Jazeera, Economic Times — Portray the mission as a legally dubious U.S. military build-up whose real aim may be pressuring or toppling Venezuela’s Maduro rather than stopping drugs, noting dozens of deaths and G-7 criticism. Emphasises U.S. aggression and civilian casualties, which suits an editorial line critical of Washington’s interventions and may lean on Venezuelan or activist sources for narrative weight.
Regional U.S. mainstream/local news
NBC 6 South Florida, ArcaMax — Report the renaming and scale-up of the anti-drug operation, listing ship numbers, troop levels and death tolls while noting speculation about future strikes. Relies heavily on official briefings and wire copy, offering limited scrutiny of legal or geopolitical questions, which can underplay controversy for a just-the-facts audience.