He United States Secretary of WarPete Hegseth, confirmed that the upcoming inclusion of Poster of the Suns in the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), effective November 24, will grant the US government “a wide range of new options” to intensify actions against the regime Nicolas Maduro.
In statements to One America Newsthe head of the Pentagon emphasized that the War Department maintains a flexible planning strategy, ensuring that “Nothing is off the table, but nothing is automatically on the table either.”, in reference to the permanent analysis of response options for military deployment in the Caribbean.
The head of the Military Department reiterated that Washington considers that the Chavista dictator “is not a legitimately elected leader” and recalled that he faces formal accusations of drug trafficking before the US justice system.
“These additional legal tools offer more options for our Department to present options to President Donald Trump,” he said. Among the possible measures, he mentioned the expansion of operations in the fight against narcoterrorism.
Hegseth stressed that Maduro continues to be actively wanted by the United States, an administration that maintains a reward of 50 million dollars for information leading to his capture. The official also mentioned that the leader of the Venezuelan regime “lied to the previous administration about his intention to leave office,” violating commitments to the White House.
According to the person close to Trump, the objective of US policy is to make clear that the Western Hemisphere “will not be controlled by narcoterrorism, cartels or illegitimate regimes“In that sense, he insisted that the new legal tools will facilitate the expansion of the anti-drug mission already existing in the region, focused on cartels linked to the Venezuelan regime.
In another part of the interview, he drew a direct parallel between US operations in the Middle East and the operational capacity available in the Western Hemisphere. Hegseth stressed that the United States perfected for two decades its ability to “reach narcoterrorists in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan,” and warned that if it were necessary to apply that force in the region—on land or at sea—“no one would do it better” than the North American country.
Regarding “Operation Southern Spear,” Hegseth described the current mission as a primarily maritime effort directed against the cartels, and issued an explicit warning to those involved in drug trafficking: “Don’t get on a boat because it’s going to end badly for you.“.
The official concluded that the War Department prioritizes advanced strategic planning, with the objective of providing diverse options to the Republican leader.
The official’s statements were issued after five military aircraft from USA were detected simultaneously and publicly on air tracking radars over the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela.
The monitoring carried out by FlightRadar24 recorded the episode this Thursday, which reflects a change in Washington’s operational strategy, which until now maintained its intelligence flights in stealth mode, with the tracking systems turned off.
The air group was led by a RC-135W Rivet Joint (registration 62-4132), aircraft specialized in electronic strategic reconnaissance, which operated under the callsign ALBUS39 east of the delta Amacuro. It is the first time during the current crisis that this model of spy plane activates its transponders in the Caribbean area, allowing public viewing of its route and position.
Four more military aircraft were later added to the operation, identified in the tracking systems with the call codes. PARTY11 (AE58BC), FELIX12 (AE1ABF), LION11 (AE53C0) and LION12 (AE53C1).
(With information from REUTERS)
