Venezuela on Sunday blasted the arrival in nearby Trinidad and Tobago of a US warship as a dangerous “provocation,” amid mounting fears of potential attacks against the Venezuelan mainland.
The USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, docked on Sunday in the Trinidadian capital, Port of Spain, for a four-day visit, which would include joint training with local defense forces.
The ship’s arrival comes amid a mounting military campaign by US President Donald Trump against alleged drug-traffickers in Latin America, which has largely targeted Venezuelans and so far been limited to deadly strikes in international waters.
Photo: EPA
Trump has increasingly threatened to take the campaign on land, while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims Washington is plotting his ouster.
Trinidad and Tobago, which is situated just 11km from the Venezuelan coast at its closest point, has sided with Washington against its neighbor.
Venezuela angrily denounced “the military provocation of Trinidad and Tobago, in coordination with the CIA, aimed at provoking a war in the Caribbean.”
Caracas added that it had arrested “a group of mercenaries” with links to the CIA, days after Trump said that he had authorized covert CIA operations against Venezuela.
Maduro’s government claimed the alleged mercenaries were mounting a “false flag attack” aimed at provoking a full-blown war, without giving details.
Venezuela regularly claims to have arrested US-backed mercenaries working to destabilize Maduro’s administration.
The USS Gravely is one of several warships Washington deployed to the Caribbean in August as part of an anti-drugs campaign that Venezuela sees as a front for trying to topple Maduro, whose re-election Washington rejects as fraudulent.
Tensions escalated sharply on Friday last week when the Pentagon also ordered the deployment of the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region.
US forces have blown up at least 10 boats they claimed were smuggling narcotics, killing at least 43 people, since last month.
The standoff has pulled in Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a sharp critic of the US strikes who was sanctioned by Washington on Friday last week for allegedly allowing drug production to flourish.
Caracas has accused Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island nation of 1.4 million people whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is fiercely critical of Maduro, of serving as “a US aircraft carrier.”
Trinidad and Tobago said the visit of the USS Gravely “aims to bolster the fight against transnational crime, and build resilience through training, humanitarian activities and security cooperation.”
Trinidad and Tobago values its relationship “with the people of Venezuela” and remains committed to “the creation of a safer, stronger and more prosperous region,” a government statement said.
In Port of Spain, some people welcomed the government’s show of support for Trump’s campaign, but others worried about getting caught up in a regional conflict.
“If anything should happen with Venezuela and America, we as people who live on the outskirts of it ... could end up getting a lash any time,” 64-year-old Daniel Holder said.
“I am against my country being part of this,” he said.
Victor Rojas, a 38-year-old carpenter who has been living in Trinidad and Tobago for the past eight years, said he was worried for his family back home.
“Venezuela is not in a position to weather an attack right now,” he said, referring to the nation’s economic collapse under Maduro.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
Separatists in Alberta are preparing to submit a petition tomorrow that they said has enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for the oil-rich Canadian province. Polls indicate the pro-independence camp remains a minority among Alberta’s 5 million people, but has hit a historic high of roughly 30 percent. Alberta separatists are also closer than ever to forcing a referendum, riding momentum fueled by intensifying grievances over Ottawa’s control of the provincial oil industry. They have also undeniably gotten a boost from the return to power of US President Donald Trump. After launching a petition in January, Stay Free Alberta, the group
RSS