MIAMI.- The admiral in charge of U.S. forces in Latin America will retire two years early on Fridayin a scenario of greater tensions with Venezuela that included Wednesday’s seizure of an oil tanker and more than 20 deadly attacks on suspected drug smuggling ships.
Three U.S. officials and two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Adm. Alvin Holsey He was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Two of the sources said so Hegseth is frustrated with the Southern Command’s response to his attempt to intensify US military operations and planning in the region.
An official confirmed that the possibility of Hegseth ousting Holsey was discussed about two weeks ago before the surprise announcement of his departure.
Holsey has not publicly announced his early retirement. Some officials have privately speculated that he spoke out against recent U.S. attacks on ships suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
However, in a closed meeting with senior lawmakers on Tuesday, Holsey insisted her decision had nothing to do with the operations under her command, Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers published in Politico.
Holsey will officially hand over command to his deputy, Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettusduring a ceremony Friday morning. Pettus will serve as acting head of U.S. Southern Command.
A source familiar with the matter said this President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Lt. Gen. Frank DonovanVice Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, as Holsey’s permanent successor. The source warned that the appointment has not yet been formalized and could change.
However, Holsey’s early retirement is unusual not without precedent. In 2008, Admiral William Fallon, commander of Central Command, also retired, a year after taking over oversight of U.S. forces in the Middle East, following comments on Iran and other issues that angered the George Bush administration.
Holsey joins in other senior officials who have left their positions since Hegseth took charge of the Pentagon. Some departures were abrupt, such as that of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown and that of the most senior naval officer, Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to hold the position.
Holsey’s departure is as directed by the Trump administration Signs of an important shift in foreign policy. A strategy document released this week called for reviving the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere to be Washington’s sphere of influence.
A major military buildup of U.S. warships in the Caribbean – including the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group – has highlighted the change, along with new U.S. training operations at a reactivated jungle school in Panama.
In the last few months Trump has increased the pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduroa close ally of Russia and China whom Washington accuses of drug trafficking, which Maduro denies.
The US Coast Guard’s seizure of a tanker on Wednesday was the first ban on Venezuelan crude under US sanctions in place since 2019. Reuters reported on it on Thursday The United States is preparing to intercept more ships carrying Venezuelan oil.
Trump’s military operations against suspected drug smugglers are under scrutiny intensive testing following the Sept. 2 decision to launch a second attack on a suspected drug trafficking ship in the Caribbean.
The U.S. Department of Defense’s Law of War Manual prohibits attacking incapacitated, unconscious, or shipwrecked combatants unless they are hostile and do not attempt to escape. The manual cites the shooting of shipwreck survivors as an example of a “clearly illegal” order that should be rejected.
The Trump administration is portraying the attacks as a war against drug cartels, calling them armed groups and claiming that drugs transported to the U.S. are killing Americans.
Reuters agency
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