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SOUTHCOM commander abruptly retires amid escalating scrutiny of Caribbean strikes

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The commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), whose area of operations includes the Caribbean waters where the strikes against the alleged drug boats have been conducted, retired Friday as scrutiny surrounding the attacks mounts.
Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, who became the head of Southern Command in November 2024, announced suddenly in October that he would retire from the military as operations heated up in the region that the administration claims is part of President Donald Trump’s crusade against the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The Trump administration designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February, and bolstered its naval assets in the region in recent months under Holsey’s leadership — including signing off on the unprecedented step of sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to the region.
WAR DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES NEW COUNTER-NARCOTICS TASK FORCE UNDER TRUMP DIRECTIVE TO CRUSH CARTELS
Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth visits the Panama Canal on April 08, 2025, in Panama City, Panama. Panama Canal Administrator Dr. Ricaurte Vasquez Morales welcomes Pete Hegseth. (Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«We have worked hard and tirelessly to build relationships and understand requirements across the region,» Holsey said during the retirement ceremony, according to a news release. «To be a trusted partner, we must be credible, present and engaged.»
Holsey commissioned in 1988, and flew both SH-2F Seasprite and SH-60B Seahawk helicopters. Holsey’s previous assignments include serving as the deputy commander of Southern Command, as well as deputy chief of Naval personnel and the commander of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson’s carrier strike group.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettus also took over the reins from Holsey Friday, after previously serving as the command’s military deputy commander. His experience includes more than 2,700 hours as a pilot in the Air Force’s F-15E Strike Fighter jet and the A-10 «Warthog» aircraft, has participated in combat missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve, among others.
TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

Venezuelan vessel destroyed during U.S. military strike off of Venezuela Sept. 2, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
Holsey’s retirement less than a year into his tenure leading the combatant command is highly unusual. In comparison, former SOUTHCOM commander, Army Gen. Laura Richardson, served in the role from 2021 to 2024.
Holsey did not give a reason for his departure in October, and didn’t share any additional details Friday.
However, Holsey had raised «concerns» about the strikes, attracting the ire of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, The New York Times reported. Hegseth already believed that Holsey wasn’t cracking down on the alleged drug traffickers more aggressively, and Holsey’s concerns prompted the relationship between the two leaders to unravel even further, the Times said.
As a result, Hegseth pressured Holsey to step down, according to the Times.
The Pentagon referred Fox News Digital to Hegseth’s original post on social media in October after news of Holsey’s retirement broke, where the secretary of war thanked Holsey for his service.
«The Department thanks Admiral Holsey for his decades of service to our country, and we wish him and his family continued success and fulfillment in the years ahead,» Hegseth said in the post.
CAPITOL HILL REVOLT THREATENS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA PLAYBOOK AMID CARIBBEAN STRIKE OVERSIGHT
Meanwhile, the strikes have attracted increased scrutiny from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. While some lawmakers have always challenged the legality of the strikes — particularly after revelations in recent weeks that a second strike was conducted against a vessel after the first one left survivors in September — the Trump administration has routinely stated it has the authority to conduct those attacks.
For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution on Dec. 3 to bar Trump from using U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on AI, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. Dec. 11, 2025. (Al Drago/Reuters)
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In total, the Trump administration has conducted more than 20 strikes in Latin American waters since September targeting alleged drug smugglers in an effort to combat the flow of drugs into the U.S. Additionally, Trump has signaled for months that strikes on land could be next, and the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.
«We’re knocking out drug boats right now at a level that we haven’t seen,» Trump said Dec. 3. «Very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too.»
pentagon,white house,pete hegseth,donald trump,venezuelan political crisis
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Zelensky reiteró a sus aliados que el armamento del ejército ruso contiene “miles de componentes” de fabricación extranjera

El presidente de Ucrania, Volodimir Zelensky, advirtió que los misiles y drones utilizados por el ejército ruso contienen “miles de componentes” de fabricación no rusa, especialmente procedentes de Europa, Estados Unidos y Japón, y pidió a estos países bloquear de manera efectiva estas cadenas de suministro.
“Todos esos misiles y drones rusos que se utilizan hoy en día contienen miles de componentes que Rusia no puede producir por sí sola. Cinco misiles Iskander-M llevan al menos 75 componentes críticos de fabricación no rusa. Tres misiles ‘Kh-101’ incluyen casi 160 componentes que Rusia no puede reemplazar por sí misma», detalló el mandatario.
A su vez, en un mensaje hacia sus aliados, remarcó: “Cada shahed (dron de fabricación iraní) tiene cientos de estos componentes exportados a Rusia desde otros países, y no solo de empresas chinas, por cierto. También de Europa, Estados Unidos y Japón”.
El mandatario instó a los aliados de Ucrania a bloquear realmente las cadenas de suministro que llevan componentes críticos a Rusia para la producción de armas, calificando esta medida de “crucial” tanto para Kiev como para la seguridad internacional.
“Las propias empresas deberían supervisar mejor el destino de sus componentes. Sin estas conexiones con el mundo, Rusia no puede hacer nada; no es capaz de ser fuerte estando completamente aislada”, aseguró.
Zelensky reiteró que “el bloqueo y la presión pueden realmente obligar al agresor a reconsiderar su política” en medio de la invasión al territorio ucraniano.
Respecto a las negociaciones en Suiza, indicó que la delegación ucraniana presentará un informe tras ronda de conversaciones en Ginebra sobre los ataques recientes en Odesa y sus consecuencias.
“El equipo debe plantear sin duda la cuestión de estos ataques, en primer lugar a la parte estadounidense, que propuso que tanto nosotros como Rusia nos abstuviéramos de atacar”, puntualizó respecto de los últimos bombardeos de Moscú a infraestructura crítica ucraniana.
El presidente subrayó que Ucrania está preparada y no necesita la guerra, y manifestó su disposición para avanzar hacia un acuerdo justo que ponga fin al conflicto bélico iniciado por Rusia en 2022. Además, adelantó que en las próximas semanas habrá nuevas negociaciones con socios internacionales y se discutirá la necesidad de que Europa produzca sus propios misiles de defensa aérea.
“La única pregunta para los rusos es: ¿qué quieren? Y también, si habrá consecuencias para Rusia por el hecho de que los shaheds, los misiles y las fantasiosas charlas sobre la historia les importan más que la diplomacia real, la diplomacia y la paz duradera»,
La jornada del martes incluyó una reunión de Ucrania con representantes de Estados Unidos, Francia, Reino Unido, Alemania, Italia y Suiza. El secretario del Consejo Nacional de Defensa ucraniano, Rustem Umerov, señaló que se coordinaron enfoques para los próximos pasos y destacó la importancia de mantener una visión común y la coordinación de acciones entre Ucrania, Estados Unidos y Europa.

Los negociadores de Ucrania y Rusia reanudarán una segunda ronda de conversaciones de paz en Ginebra este miércoles, mientras el principal enviado de Estados Unidos mostró optimismo sobre la posibilidad de poner fin al conflicto más letal en Europa desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Estas conversaciones representan el esfuerzo diplomático más reciente para frenar los combates, que causaron cientos de miles de muertes, desplazado a millones de personas y devastado amplias zonas del este y sur de Ucrania.
Los delegados de Estados Unidos mantiene su presión para lograr un acuerdo que ponga fin a casi cuatro años de guerra, aunque hasta ahora no se ha alcanzado un compromiso entre Moscú y Kiev respecto al territorio en disputa.
El enviado estadounidense Steve Witkoff, representante de la administración del presidente Donald Trump, afirmó que los esfuerzos diplomáticos del mandatario impulsaron el proceso.
“El éxito del presidente Trump al unir a ambos lados de esta guerra ha generado un progreso significativo”, escribió en X. “Ambas partes acordaron actualizar a sus respectivos líderes y continuar trabajando para llegar a un acuerdo”.
(Con información de Europa Press)
Defence,Defense,Europe
INTERNACIONAL
Inside world’s top science society’s convention bashing Trump, pushing DEI, pronouns: ‘Felt like a funeral’

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FIRST ON FOX: One of the world’s largest and most influential scientific societies held its annual conference last weekend, which a Fox News Digital review found was littered with examples of progressive messaging, criticisms of the Trump administration, and «woke» workshops.
Attendees who showed up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event, held at the Phoenix Convention Center from Feb. 12-14, were immediately greeted at registration with identifier stickers that used gender pronouns such as «they/them,» «xi/xer,» «xe/xem,» and other descriptors that critics have alleged have little to do with science and biology.
During the meeting’s opening night, shortly after a 10-minute hoop dance routine from traditional Native American dancers, AAAS CEO Dr. Sudip Parikh told the audience that it’s been a «hard» and «tough year for science and scientists in this country.»
Parikh went on to blame DOGE for the «devastation» of «some of our science agencies» and the «president’s budget request» that «cut science by half» and, in his opinion, amounted to «forfeiting the future.»
DOCTORS ON KEY US HEALTH TASK FORCE ACCUSED OF PRIORITIZING DEI OVER EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE
The 2025 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
«What happened over the course of the last year is a rupture. We’re not going back, it’s not possible, too much damage has been done, too much has changed. There’s an entire generation of scientists that have a scar, a scar that is not going to go away,» Parikh explained, adding that scars can «make us tougher» and «become almost shields» that «build resilience.»
Parikh told the crowd that he warned last year that Robert F. Kennedy Jr was the «wrong person» for Health and Human Services secretary and said, «I still feel that way,» which prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.
«It’s going to take protests, it’s going to take politics, it’s going to take the ability to not speak gibberish, all of that has got to come together if we’re going to fight for the inheritance of the enlightenment to continue to make this world a better place,» Parikh said.
Workshops at the event, which provided gender-neutral washrooms, included a session titled «Mao-Mei Liu: Nurturing Diversity in Science is Resistance,» and another called «Investigating the Role of Race in Clinical Decision-Making.»
«Who Gets to Belong? Disability, Power, and Participation in Higher Education,» another workshop was called.
TOP MEDICAL SCHOOL MOVED DEI OFFICE TO SECRET LOCATION AS IT TRIES TO ‘EVADE ACCOUNTABILITY’: LEGAL GROUP

The 2026 annual AAAS conference provided guests with an all-gender washroom and gender pronoun stickers. (Fox News Digital)
Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, a world-renowned expert in electrical engineering, delivered the president’s address at the conference and also lamented what a difficult year 2025 was for science and suggested climate change was responsible for the devastating southern California wildfires last year.
AAAS, the publisher of the highly respected Science magazine, posted several more videos over the course of the next few days, many including speakers who criticized the Trump administration and injected politics into discussions.
«Colonial Legacies, Climate Crises, and the Erosion of Mobility Choice» was another workshop that scientists at the conference were offered and in an interview with «climate justice scholar» Jola Ajibade, she explained how climate change has benefited a «few wealthy people» while «low-income communities are displaced.»
«At the center of my work is giving a voice but also bringing to the attention of everyone the impact of a slew of climate solutions, the impact of those solutions on low-income communities, on Black communities, on indigenous, on Latino communities as well,» Ajibade explained, adding that she is focused on finding a «decolonial» approach.
Listed sponsors of the event included the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a group tied to the progressive consulting behemoth Arabella Advisors through the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit that pushes a variety of progressive causes.
«The whole thing that is sad for me is that when I attended these conferences in the first Trump administration there was plenty of liberal nonsense, but it still was a celebration of science and the achievements of the year, and you left excited,» an event attendee told Fox News Digital.
«This year felt like a funeral, with nothing but griping and moaning. Why would people want to keep coming back year after year with something like that? I suspect that is why their attendance greatly suffered this year compared to the pre-COVID years. Their constant pleas to keep politics out of science are completely undercut by their perpetual whining and endorsing utter craziness. They’re happy for science to be political, as long as it’s leftist.»
Additionally, as lawmakers in the United States continue to warn about the growing threat posed by China and what they believe is the CCP’s infiltration of top institutions in the United States — particularly in the medical and science fields — the AAAS conference opted to allow the Beijing-based research institute Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to operate a booth at the event.
The state-run Chinese academy, which has faced controversy over its ties to China’s government and military, has collaborated with a Chinese medical technology firm linked to a 2013 U.S. bribery case involving NIH-funded research. The company has also installed equipment in leading American research labs.
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Protesters are seen outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)
«The AAAS says that their organization wants to ‘inspire’ future scientists and engineers, but session topics and material from their meeting actually discourage participants from relying on their effort and merit and turns the focus to race and ethnicity,» Johnathan Butcher, acting director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
«These are the very same kind of racist ideas inspired by DEI that have been prohibited in universities, state governments, and the federal government, because the ideas violate state and federal civil rights laws,» Butcher added. «Policymakers should be aware of what this organization is doing and make sure the association is not promoting racial preferences in hiring, promotion or research awards in academia or anywhere else.»
In a statement to Fox News Digital, an AAAS spokesperson said, «A broad spectrum of the scientific enterprise attends the meeting. The topics covered were wide-ranging across scientific disciplines and are proposed by scientists. AAAS respects their First Amendment right to free speech.»
politics,science,dei
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La empresa estatal detrás de la app cubana para sacar turnos por nafta
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