(AFP) – Trinidad and Tobago on Friday announced a new round of military exercises with the United States, which has ramped up what it calls anti-drug operations in the Caribbean — angering nearby Venezuela. Last month, a US guided missile destroyer docked at Trinidad for four days for another round of practice drills — within firing range of Venezuela, which called it a “provocation.”
Caracas claims recent US military activity in Latin America is really a ploy to overthrow its leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who Washington considers an illegitimate leader and a drug lord. Last month, it accused Trinidad and Tobago, a laid-back twin-island nation of 1.4 million people whose prime minister is a fierce Maduro critic and Washington ally, of serving as “a US aircraft carrier.”
On Friday, the archipelago’s foreign ministry said joint training drills with the US Marine Corps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will run from Sunday to November 21. It formed part “of our longstanding history of collaboration,” a ministry statement said. “Trinidad and Tobago continues to be burdened by the scourge of gun-related crimes and gang violence,” it added. “These intensified exercises form part of our coordinated strategy to ensure that our personnel are optimally trained and equipped to address these issues in our domestic environment which have taken a tremendous toll on our society.”
– ‘Narco-terrorists’ –
The United States has deployed warships, fighter jets, and thousands of soldiers to Latin America in recent weeks and launched strikes on 21 alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing at least 80 people. Washington has provided no evidence those targeted were traffickers, and rights observer groups say the strikes are illegal regardless.
On Tuesday, a US aircraft carrier strike group also arrived in the region, prompting Caracas to announce a “massive” retaliatory deployment. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a military operation aimed at “narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere,” but it was unclear how it might differ from the existing US military deployment. The arrival of the USS Gravely in Trinidad and Tobago last month prompted Caracas to suspend an energy agreement with the nation and declare its Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar “persona non grata.”
Venezuela also claimed to have dismantled a CIA-financed cell plotting a false-flag attack against the US vessel. Washington recently cleared Trinidad and Tobago to exploit the Dragon gas field in Venezuelan waters despite a US oil and gas embargo, deepening friction between the neighbors. Caracas fears the US military buildup is really a regime change plot in disguise.
US President Donald Trump has confirmed authorizing CIA operations in Venezuela. Last week, Trump sought to play down the prospect of going to war with Venezuela but said Maduro’s days were numbered. Maduro has been in Washington’s crosshairs since Trump’s first term, when he imposed an oil embargo and a series of sanctions against the leftist leader following a 2018 reelection widely considered to have been fraudulent.
Another election victory last year was similarly dismissed as stolen by the United States and dozens of other nations. This time around, Trump has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and offered a $50 million reward for his capture. Caracas on Tuesday announced a major, nationwide military deployment involving some 200,000 troops. Experts have told AFP that Venezuela, with an ill-disciplined fighting force and outdated arsenal, would be at a serious disadvantage in a military standoff with the United States.
© 2024 AFP
