U.S. military commander who oversaw strikes against alleged drug boats will retire

The head of the U.S. military’s Southern Command will retire later this year, a high-profile departure that comes as the Trump administration strikes alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean and puts pressure on the Venezuelan government.

Adm. Alvin Holsey announced his retirement from the U.S. Navy in a statement posted to social media late Thursday. He said he is retiring after 37 years in the Navy in mid-December — just over a year after he was first promoted to lead Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM.

“I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe,” Holsey wrote.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth thanked Holsey for his service, and said his time at SOUTHCOM “reflects a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision.”

SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility includes much of Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean Sea. It’s an increasingly active territory as the Trump administration deploys naval warships, fighter jets and thousands of troops to the Caribbean as part of an anti-drug trafficking mission.

Since last month, the military has carried out six known strikes on alleged drug boats. The most recent took place on Thursday, and unlike in other strikes that were announced by President Trump, some of the passengers survived, a U.S. official told CBS News. 

The administration has argued the strikes are justified as part of a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels. But some members of Congress have questioned the administration’s legal justification and pressed for more evidence that the boats were carrying drugs.

The attacks have also contributed to increased tensions with Venezuela, as the U.S. accuses the country’s President Nicolás Maduro of working with cartels. Maduro has denied the allegations and condemned the boat strikes, alleging Mr. Trump is seeking to foment regime change.

The U.S. military flew three B-52 bombers within 150 miles of Venezuela on Wednesday. And in two separate incidents last month, Venezuela flew military aircraft near U.S. naval vessels in what Defense Department officials described to CBS News as a “game of chicken.”

Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday he is also weighing strikes on land-based drug traffickers, and he confirmed that he has authorized covert CIA action in Venezuela.

As the situation in the region intensifies, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Holsey’s departure “troubling.”

“At a moment when U.S. forces are building up across the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela are at a boiling point, the departure of our top military commander in the region sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command,” the Rhode Island senator said in a statement.