This past week, United States Southern Command (or SOUTHCOM) announced that over 1,300 Marines and Sailors headed to the Caribbean.
I saw some media outlets report this as if it was some sort of news about what could happen in Cuba. While there is no doubt that their presence puts more pressure on the Cuban regime, that is not why these guys and girls were heading to their new post.
It's actually an ongoing part of Operation Southern Spear, which the Donald Trump administration ramped up last August and September. It's merely the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) replacing the 22nd. They'll be stationed in Puerto Rico to "serve as the immediate crisis response force" for SOUTHCOM and are certified to carry out missions "including but not limited to Quick Reaction Force operations such as embassy reinforcement and the tactical recovery of aircraft personnel, while standing ready to support disaster relief activities." They'll be operating under the designation of Littoral Combat Force-24.
In case you've missed all the little narco-boats we've been blowing up in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean — or "fishermen" as the left calls them — Operation Southern Spear is a "counter-narco-terrorist operations across the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, disrupting the flow of narcotics and degrading the ability of Designated Terrorist Organizations to reach and threaten the U.S. homeland and to traffic narcotics in the Western Hemisphere." The main goal has been to stop the flow of drugs, mostly cocaine and fentanyl, into the United States and disrupt cartel maritime operations in the name of national security.
It's been quite successful.
In the last 10 months or so, we've conducted dozens of lethal kinetic strikes on suspected narco-vessels (at least 62 boats have been destroyed and over 200 narco-terrorists killed). We just hit two more on Friday and Saturday:
On May 29, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/ynibuPqDd3
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 30, 2026
On May 30, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking… pic.twitter.com/IMgQiUTPnP
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 31, 2026
We've also tracked, intercepted, and seized multiple vessels illegally transporting sanctioned crude oil, dealing a major blow to illegal financing taking place in the region. It also helped set the stage for the operation that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the beginning of real change in Venezuela for the first time in decades.
"Our success in Operation Southern Spear relies on our ability to out-maneuver and overmatch the illicit networks threatening the region," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Calvert L. Worth, commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force, in a statement. "Littoral Combat Force-24 provides the exact combination of precision capability and interoperability we need. They are not just a crisis response force; they provide options to the Combatant Commander and serve as a tool for building partner capacity and securing the advantage across all domains."
"The Western Hemisphere is no longer a permissive environment for narco-terrorists, criminal syndicates, or their state sponsors," Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Commander of SOUTHCOM, added. "With Littoral Combat Force-24 taking the helm of tactical operations, we are sending an unambiguous message: the United States is committed to defending our homeland and securing a prosperous, stable hemisphere alongside our enduring partners."
Anyway, the fact that the 24th MEU is replacing the 22nd after 10 months proves that these efforts will continue, possibly for as long as Trump is president and, hopefully, beyond. What first felt like a temporary surge has now become a long-term operation, and from Costa Rica to Chile, we've picked up plenty of regional partners who all want the same things along the way: a hemisphere where our countries can be strong, safe, and prosperous.
And that's why I say that while this isn't specifically aimed at the Cuban regime, it does ramp up the pressure, just like it did on Maduro and his thugs, by threatening the way of life of the regional leadership that tolerated or even benefitted from drug trafficking and organized crime. It also sends a clear message to any other corrupt leadership in the region that thinks it will continue to get away with its underhanded behavior. Trump and his administration are no longer tolerating the bad actors that bring drugs, crime, and violence to our streets.
