An American warship docked Trinidad and TobagoThe country’s capital will be visited on Sunday as the Trump administration steps up its military pressure on neighboring Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro.
The arrival of the USS Seriousa guided missile destroyer, joins the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean nation’s capital as it moves closer to Venezuela. Maduro criticized the airline’s move as an attempt by the US government to invent “a new eternal war” against his country.
President Trump has accused Madurowithout providing evidence, to be the leader of the organized crime gang Aragua Train.
Government officials from the twin island and the US said the massive warship will remain in Trinidad until Thursday so both countries can conduct training exercises.
Robert Taylor/AP
A senior military official in Trinidad and Tobago told The Associated Press that the move had only recently been planned. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the lack of permission to discuss the matter publicly.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has been an outspoken supporter of the US military presence and deadly attacks on suspected drug boats in the waters off the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration has said the US is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, arguing that the narcotics they smuggle kill tens of thousands of Americans every year, which would constitute an “armed attack.”
The wife of Alejandro Carranzaone of more than 30 people killed in the strikes, claimed he left his home on Colombia’s Caribbean coast to fish in open waters and denied he had any connection with the drug trade.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said land attacks in Venezuela are a “real possibility” amid rising tensions.
“I think President Trump has decided that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go. That Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long,” the Republican senator told Margaret Brennan. “And President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he returns from Asia about future possible military operations against Venezuela and Colombia.”
Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz, charge d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy, ​​said in a statement that the exercises aim to “address common threats such as transnational crime and build resilience through training, humanitarian missions and security efforts.”
The visit comes a week after the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago warned Americans to stay away from U.S. government facilities there. Local authorities said a reported threat against Americans prompted the warning.
People in Trinidad and Tobago criticized the warship’s docking in the city during a recent demonstration outside the US embassy. David Abdulah, the leader of the Movement for Social Justice political party, said Trinidad and Tobago should not have allowed the warship into its waters.
“This is a warship in Trinidad, which will be anchored here just a few miles from Venezuela if there is a threat of war,” said Abdulah, who is also the leader of the Movement for Social Justice political party. “That’s an abomination.”
Caricom, a regional trading bloc made up of fifteen Caribbean countries, has called for dialogue. Trinidad and Tobago is a member of the group, but Persad-Bissessar has said the region is not a peace zone, citing the number of murders and other violent crimes.
#warship #docks #Trinidad #Tobago #rising #tensions #Venezuela