Operation Southern Spear

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent a letter on Monday to the heads of state of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to the 194 nations that make up the United Nations General Assembly. The document, read by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil from the Yellow House in Caracas, warns of an escalation of aggression by the US government that threatens to destabilize the security of the entire region and the international legal order. The letter’s central complaint focuses on the US military’s so-called “Operation Southern Spear,” a naval and air deployment that includes the presence of nuclear submarines off the coast of Venezuela, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.