5 months ago
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U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a caller caput of U.S. forces successful Latin America, according to a connection connected Friday (December 20, 2025), aft an admiral stepped down from the relation early.
Pentagon main Pete Hegseth announced successful the connection that Mr. Trump had appointed General Francis L Donovan to caput the U.S. Southern Command, a relation that oversees the large U.S. subject buildup taking spot successful the Caribbean.
The assignment of Donovan, presently the vice commandant of the Pentagon's Special Operations Command, would request to beryllium confirmed by the Senate earlier helium tin instrumentality up the position.
The erstwhile Southern Command caput Admiral Alvin Holsey announced successful mid-October that helium would permission his position, and had reportedly expressed concerns astir US strikes connected alleged drug-trafficking boats.
Holsey officially stepped down from the relation this month, lone 1 twelvemonth into his tenure, and neither helium nor Hegseth person publically provided a crushed for his aboriginal departure.
The United States has amassed a immense flotilla of warships successful the Caribbean arsenic portion of what Washington bills arsenic counter-narcotics efforts, and has since September carried retired strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling vessels that person near much than 100 dead.
Trump's medication insists it is efficaciously astatine warfare with alleged cause traffickers, but experts accidental the strikes connected the boats magnitude to extrajudicial killings adjacent if they people known traffickers.
Venezuela's person Nicolas Maduro has accused Washington of utilizing cause trafficking arsenic a pretext for authorities alteration successful Caracas.
Mr. Trump, successful an interrogation connected Thursday with NBC News, near unfastened the anticipation of warfare with Venezuela, and his apical diplomat Marco Rubio vowed Friday to enforce a blockade connected the country's lipid wealth.
