Saint Dominic.-The Secretary of War of the United States, Pete Hegseth, arrives in the country today on an official visit focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in security, defense and the fight against organized crime, amid tensions with Venezuela and the increase in military presence in the Caribbean region.
Hegseth, who announced in the middle of the month the launch of Operation Southern Spear, will arrive at 11:30 in the morning at the Las Américas International Airport, José Francisco Peña Gómez (AILA).
Last Monday, President Luis Abinader confirmed that the visit is part of the increase in drug trafficking operations from South America and the strengthening of cooperation to combat transnational organized crime.
“Cooperation with the United States is key. We have maintained permanent coordination and this visit reaffirms our joint commitment to stop the advance of drug trafficking in the region,” said Abinader.
Collaboration
The president highlighted that collaboration with Washington has been essential to improve border surveillance, intelligence capabilities and operations against criminal networks. He added that, given the increase in drug production in several South American countries, it becomes even more urgent to strengthen multilateral response mechanisms.
Southern Spear
The Caribbean region is experiencing a growing escalation of geopolitical tension, in which the United States, with the Dominican Republic as a “pivot ally,” has intensified its military presence and joint operations for maritime control and interdiction of drug trafficking networks that operate from South America, including Venezuela.
The seizure of 484 packages of cocaine on the 16th of this month, during a joint operation carried out off the coast of Pedernales, marked the official beginning of Operation Lanza del Sur.
During the 36 hours after the seizure of the 484 packages, the DNCD seized two more caches of 806 and 171 packages in the same area.
So far the authorities have not confirmed whether the three shipments occupied just hours apart are related in any way.
Operation Southern Spear consists of a large-scale military operation against narcoterrorism in Latin America, designed to reinforce cooperation, specialized equipment and the exchange of information in real time with the main allies in the region. Its main objective is to combat drug trafficking cartels, especially the Cartel of the Suns and other linked criminal structures that operate widely in the Caribbean and South America.
terrorist group
The United States Government designated the “Cartel of the Suns” as a foreign terrorist organization, an organization that they claim is led by President Nicolás Maduro and his government allies.
According to US media, the Pentagon has presented President Donald Trump with alternatives for possible military actions in Venezuela, which would include attacks against facilities supposedly used by drug traffickers.
Canceled flights
—1— Alert
International airlines suspended their services to Venezuelan territory due to the alerts raised by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the risks of flying over the airspace of the South American country.
