Southcom

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) revealed on Wednesday two different military operations against drug-trafficking vessels between December 30-31 killed eight narco-terrorists.

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on late Monday evening the U.S. military carried out a new “lethal kinetic strike” against a “low profile” drug trafficking vessel as part of Operation Southern Spear, killing one male narco-terrorist.

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on Thursday night revealed it carried out new kinetic strikes against two drug-trafficking vessels as part of Operation Southern Spear. Five more narco-terrorists were eliminated as a result.

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on Wednesday announced a new “lethal kinetic strike” on a drug-trafficking vessel as part of Operation Southern Spear killed four narco-terrorists.

U.S. Southern Command announced Thursday that American forces carried out a lethal kinetic strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four suspected narco‑terrorists and destroying their heavily laden smuggling vessel. The attack, directed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth under Operation Southern Spear, marks the 22nd strike against cartel‑linked traffickers in international waters and brings the total number of narco‑terrorists killed to nearly 90. The strikes continue despite harsh criticism from some lawmakers in Congress.

U.S. Military forces launched attacks on four vessels operated by narco-terrorist smugglers transiting through a known trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. According to the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the kinetic strikes occurred on Monday and resulted in a total of 14 terrorists killed. One person survived the attacks.

United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Commander Gen. Laura J. Richardson left open the possibility of sending troops to Haiti as part of an “international solution” to address the ongoing violent situation of the Caribbean nation in remarks given during an event held by the Atlantic Council think tank on Tuesday.

During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Commander Gen. Laura Richardson stated that American companies haven’t been bidding for contracts on critical infrastructure in Latin America and the U.S. is getting beaten in that national security

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Laura Richardson defended the U.S. buying oil from Venezuela by stating that when it comes to countries that want to deepen their ties to China, “you don’t turn away.

The vast majority of the Gitmo prisoners have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the U.S. military announced.

Northern Triangle governments don’t engage in the “systemic” persecution of their citizens, the basis for U.S. refugee or asylum status.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a potential 2020 Democratic presidential contender, attacked Navy Vice Adm. Craig Faller Tuesday during his confirmation hearing to become commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) over a decision 14 years ago to attend a party during a port visit to Hong Kong.

Communist China is seeking to expand its military and political influence across Latin America, warns the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) think-tank in a new report, echoing the U.S. armed forces.

China’s decision to expand its ambitious multi-trillion-dollar “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative to Latin America may create security vulnerabilities for the United States by allowing Beijing to expand its influence over the region, the chief of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) cautioned lawmakers.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly has warned would-be illegal migrants from Central America not to waste their money on paying for a human trafficker to enter the United States because they “will be turned around within our laws relatively quickly and returned.”

The “nexus” between Latin American drug cartels and Islamic terrorist groups like the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) affiliate Boko Haram, which controls Africa-based smuggling routes towards Europe, “is real” and expected to “get more sophisticated,” declared U.S. Department of Defense Secretary John Kelly.

Jihadist groups like the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) are engaged in efforts to “radicalize and recruit” people in Latin American regions home to violent street gangs that maintain links with U.S. counterparts, namely MS-13, according to the top American commander in the area.

Up to 125 jihadists and their relatives have traveled from the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago to join the Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, making the country “the largest per-capita source” of recruits for the jihadist group in the Western Hemisphere, reports the Associated Press (AP).

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), as it loses territory in the Middle East, is infiltrating Latin America, warns Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) in a letter sent to President Barack Obama this week.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it is planning to upgrade its naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus into a permanent facility, a move that comes as the Kremlin has expressed interest in erecting military bases in Latin America and Egypt, as well as reopening Soviet-era facilities in Vietnam and Cuba.

Latin American transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), including Mexican drug cartels, are paying Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah a “tax” to move people, narcotics, weapons and other contraband in and out out of the Western Hemisphere, an expert on Iranian influence in the region tells Breitbart News.

Islam had an estimated 3 million adherents in Latin America and the Caribbean as of the end of last year, marking an increase of nearly 25 percent from the 2.3 million who were residing there in 2010, a Breitbart News analysis of U.S. Department of State (DoS) data shows.

Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, started a Latin American tour in Cuba, the latest effort by the Islamic Republic to maintain its growing relationship with nations in the region.

U.S. officials are trying to establish closer cooperation with various Latin American nations to combat an increase in the number of illegal migrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East attempting to sneak into the United States.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. military is confronting an “extremist Islamist movement” in the Americas that has been linked to the use of illicit trafficking networks by criminals and terrorists, likely working together, revealed U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) chief Navy Adm. Kurt W. Tidd during a roundtable discussion with reporters.

Iran’s Lebanese terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, finds itself in dire financial straits after years of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, a top U.S. Department of Treasury official told lawmakers this week.

“Hundreds” of individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is providing Department of Defense (DOD) personnel with guidance for personal protective measures in response to the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak in its area of operation (AOR).

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), in the latest edition of its propaganda magazine, indicated that it could purchase a nuclear weapon in Pakistan, take it to Nigeria, and then smuggle it into the U.S. through Mexico by using existing trafficking networks in Latin America.

Iranian “cultural centers,” established across Latin America to enhance the Shiite country’s influence in the region, have proliferated in the last three years, while the Obama administration has been trying to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran.