Military shake-up exposes growing tensions inside the Pentagon

The commander of U.S. military forces in Latin America retired two years ahead of schedule amid rising tensions with Venezuela.

Three U.S. officials and two informed sources said that Alvin Holsey was removed from his post by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Two officials said Hegseth had grown dissatisfied with Southern Command, as he was seeking greater flexibility in U.S. military operations and planning in the region.

One informed source said U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Frank Donovan, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations, as Holsey’s successor, pending Senate confirmation.

Holsey’s early retirement is rare but not unprecedented. In 2008, William Fallon, then commander of U.S. Central Command, also retired one year after assuming responsibility for overseeing U.S. forces in the Middle East, following remarks that upset the administration of President George W. Bush.

Holsey is the latest in a series of senior officers to step down since Hegseth assumed leadership of the Pentagon.

Some of these resignations were abrupt, including those of C.Q. Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top officer.

Revival of the Monroe doctrine?

Over the past few months, the U.S. government has shown a major shift in its foreign policy. A recently released strategic document calls for reviving the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere to be within Washington’s sphere of influence.

A significant increase in U.S. naval deployments in the Caribbean—including the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group—along with the stationing of new U.S. training forces at a revived jungle warfare school in Panama, has underscored this policy shift.

Trump has also intensified pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. military operations against Venezuela have come under close scrutiny following the September 2 decision to carry out a second attack on a boat in the Caribbean.