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01/20/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/21/2026 10:52

Ongoing Military Operations Around Venezuela Cost $31 Million per Day—$2.8 Million Is Unbudgeted

Ongoing Military Operations Around Venezuela Cost $31 Million per Day-$2.8 Million Is Unbudgeted

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Analysis by Mark F. Cancian and Chris H. Park

Published January 20, 2026

Operation Southern Spear, now in its fourth month, has both a fiscal and an opportunity cost.

  1. Sustaining military activity in the Caribbean is estimated to cost $31 million per day, most of which is covered by the FY 2026 defense budget. More flight hours, steaming days, and benefits for deployed personnel are expected to incuradditional costs of roughly 10 percent over the operating budget-or about $2.8 million per day.
  2. The Department of Defense has two existing sources to cover unbudgeted expenses: It could cut other planned activities or draw from the $1 billion appropriated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act "to support border operations." The Trump administration could also askCongress for a supplemental appropriation, but that is unlikely.
  3. Operation Southern Spear also carries significant opportunity costs. Around 38 percent of Navy ships underway and available for missions are in the Caribbean-assets that could have been sent to other geopolitical hotspots, like the Persian Gulf or the Western Pacific. There are no zero-cost options in the world of force allocation. The trade-offs may increasingly come to light as Trump contemplates renewed military action against Iran.

CSIS Charts is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s).

© 2026 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved.

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Senior Adviser, Defense and Security Department
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Research Associate, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy

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CSIS - Center for Strategic and International Studies Inc. published this content on January 20, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 21, 2026 at 16:52 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]