The USS Gravely arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday for joint exercises near the coast of Venezuela. Photo: AFP
PORT OF SPAIN:
A US warship arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday for joint exercises near the coast of Venezuela, as Washington ratcheted up pressure on drug traffickers and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The USS Gravely, whose upcoming arrival was announced Thursday by the Trinidadian government, docked in the capital, Port of Spain. It is set to remain in the small Caribbean nation until Thursday, during which time a contingent of US Marines will conduct joint training with local defense forces.
The exercises are part of a mounting military campaign by US President Donald Trump against drug-trafficking organizations in Latin America, which has targeted Trump’s arch-foe Maduro in particular.
US forces have blown up at least 10 boats they claimed were smuggling narcotics, killing at least 43 people, and Trump has also threatened ground attacks on suspected cartels in Venezuela.
Maduro, a longtime Trump foe whose reelection last year was widely rejected as fraudulent, has accused the United States of “fabricating a war” aimed at toppling him.
The standoff escalated sharply on Friday, when the Pentagon ordered the deployment of the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, to the region.
Trump has also authorized CIA operations against Venezuela.
The standoff has pulled in Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a sharp critic of the American strikes who was sanctioned by Washington on Friday for allegedly allowing drug trafficking to flourish.
Washington has accused both Maduro and Petro of being “narcoterrorists,” without providing any proof of the allegations.
In August, Washington deployed a fleet of eight US Navy ships, 10 F-35 warplanes and a nuclear-powered submarine to the region.
