U.S. Secretary of Defense Samuel Moncada said on Monday that the Department of Defense (referred to as the ¡°Ministry of War¡±) will set up a ¡°Joint Working Group¡± under the U.S. Army¡¯s Southern Command to oversee U.S. military operations in Latin America. Venezuela¡¯s permanent representative to the United Nations Samuel Moncada said on the same day that the U.S. combating so-called ¡°drug ships¡± in the Caribbean is not self-defense, but ¡°illegal killing.¡±

Hegseth posted on social media that under the instruction of US President Trump, the Ministry of National Defense will set up a "joint anti-drug working group" in the US Southern Command to destroy drug cartels and prevent the United States from being poisoned. The US sent a clear message: "If you traffic drugs towards our coast, we will completely stop you."

The U.S. Southern Command said the newly formed task force will be commanded by the Second Expedition of the Marine Corps. The Second Expedition of the Navy Corps is stationed in Le Joon, North Carolina, with the ability to act quickly overseas and will "coordinate and strengthen drug-fighting efforts in the Western Hemisphere."

Reuters noted that Calvert Worth, Lieutenant General of the Second Expeditionary Team of the Marine Corps and commander of the Joint Anti-Drug Working Group, hinted that the focus of the troops was still maritime operations, and they would use maritime patrols, aerial surveillance, precision blockade and intelligence sharing to combat illegal trafficking.

Reuters reported that the US military's move is intended to strengthen its military deployment in Latin America.

Since the beginning of September, the United States has deployed several warships in the Caribbean waters near Venezuela to "fight Latin American drug traffickers" and has claimed to have destroyed at least four so-called "drug ships" and killed 21 "drug traffickers".Venezuelan Foreign Minister Hill said on October 9 that the Venezuelan government has asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the U.S. military threat to Venezuela.

Venezuela's permanent representative to the United Nations, Moncada, said on Monday that the U.S. government covered up the crimes committed under the guise of "self-defense": the "bombing" of four small vessels in the Caribbean waters more than 1,000 kilometers from the U.S. coastline, killing 21 civilians "never posed a threat to U.S. national security", which is not self-defense, but an illegal killing.