Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday slammed new joint military exercises by the United States and its ally Trinidad and Tobago as “irresponsible,” with Washington increasing its armed presence in the Caribbean. Caracas claims recent US military activity in the region — which Washington says is directed against drug gangs — is really a ploy to overthrow leftist leader Maduro.
This is the second joint training exercise carried out by the United States and Trinidad and Tobago in less than a month. In October, a US guided missile destroyer docked at Trinidad for four days for another round of practice drills — within firing range of Venezuela, whose government called it a “provocation.”
“The government of Trinidad and Tobago has once again announced irresponsible exercises, lending its waters off the coast of Sucre state for military exercises that are intended to be threatening to a republic like Venezuela, which does not allow itself to be threatened by anyone,” Maduro said during an event in Caracas on Saturday.
Maduro called on his supporters in the eastern states of the country to hold “a vigil and a permanent march in the streets” during the military maneuvers, scheduled for November 16-21. 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.
© 2024 AFP
