Trinidad and Tobago on Friday announced a new round of military exercises with the US, which has ramped up what it calls anti-drug operations in the Caribbean — angering nearby Venezuela.
A US guided missile destroyer last month docked at Trinidad for four days for another round of practice drills — within firing range of Venezuela, which called it a “provocation.”
Caracas claimed recent US military activity in Latin America is really a ploy to overthrow leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who Washington considers an illegitimate leader and a drug lord.
Photo: Reuters
It last month accused Trinidad and Tobago, whose prime minister is a fierce Maduro critic and Washington ally, of serving as “a US aircraft carrier.”
The Trinidadian Ministry of Foreign and Caribbean Community Affairs said joint training drills with the US Marine Corps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is to run from today to Friday next week.
It formed part “of our longstanding history of collaboration,” the ministry 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.”
The US has deployed warships, fighter jets and thousands of soldiers to Latin America over the past few 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 said the strikes are illegal regardless.
A US aircraft carrier strike group on Tuesday also arrived in the region, prompting Caracas to announce a “massive” retaliatory deployment.
US Secretary of Defense 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 Trinidadian 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.
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