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The #military commander overseeing the Pentagon’s escalating attacks against boats in the #Caribbean Sea that the #Trump admin says are smuggling drugs is stepping down, 2 #US officials said Thursday.
The officer, Adm. Alvin Holsey, is leaving his job as head of the #USSouthCom, which oversees all operations in Central & South America, even as the #Pentagon has rapidly built up some 10,000 forces in the region in what it says is a major counterdrug & counterterrorism mission.
It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is leaving now, less than a year into his tenure, & in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career.
…Since early Sept, #US Special Ops forces have struck at least 5 boats off the coast of #Venezuela that the #Trump admin claims were transporting drugs, killing 27 people. US officials have privately made it clear that the main goal is to drive Nicolás #Maduro, #Venezuela’s #authoritarian leader, from #power.
…Admiral Holsey, who is #Black, becomes only the latest in a line of more than a dozen #military leaders, many of them people of color &/or #women, who have left their jobs this year. Most have been fired by #Defense Secretary #PeteHegseth or pushed out.
#Trump #US #Venezuela #Caribbean #USSouthCom #Pentagon #law #murder #war #Venezuela #NonInternationalArmedConflict
…It was not clear Thursday who would replace Admiral Holsey, who just this week visited the islands of #Antigua & #Barbuda as well as #Grenada.
News of the admiral’s departure comes a day after it was reported that the #Trump admin had secretly authorized the #CIA to conduct covert action in #Venezuela.
Trump acknowledged Wednesday that he had authorized the covert action & said the US was considering strikes on Venezuelan territory.
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