A US warship docked in Trinidad and Tobago's capital Sunday as the administration of US President Donald Trump boosts military pressure on neighbouring Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro.
The arrival of the USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, in the capital of the Caribbean nation is in addition to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which is moving closer to Venezuela. Maduro criticised the movement of the carrier as an attempt by the US government to fabricate "a new eternal war” against his country.
Trump has accused Maduro, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organised crime gang Tren de Aragua.
‘What the US really wants is regime change’: US military build-up in the Caribbean
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
04:45
Government officials from the twin-island nation and the US said the massive warship will remain in Trinidad until Thursday so both countries can carry out training exercises.
A senior military official in Trinidad and Tobago told the Associated Press that the move was only recently scheduled. The official spoke under condition of anonymity due to lack of authorisation to discuss the matter publicly.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, has been a vocal supporter of the US military presence and the deadly strikes on what the US has alleged are drug boats in waters off Venezuela.
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.
Two Trinidadian men were killed in a strike on a vessel that set out from Venezuela in mid-October, according to their families.
The mother of one of the victims insisted he was a fisherman, not a drug trafficker.
Tensions rise in Caribbean as families of fallen men accuse Trump of unjust killings
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
01:38
US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz said in a statement that the exercises seek to "address shared threats like transnational crime and build resilience through training, humanitarian missions, and security efforts”.
The visit comes one week after the US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago warned Americans to stay away from US government facilities there. Local authorities said a reported threat against Americans prompted the warning.
Many people in Trinidad and Tobago criticise the warship's docking in town.
"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, a Rastafarian who wore a white turban, told AFP,
"I am against my country being part of this," he added.
'Every reason' to expect attacks inside Venezuela, expert warns as US escalates operations
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
07:27
At 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 for several days just miles off Venezuela when there’s a threat of war,” Abdulah said. “That’s an abomination.”
Caricom, a regional trade bloc made up of 15 Caribbean countries, has called for dialogue. Trinidad and Tobago is a member of the group, but Persad-Bissessar has claimed the region is not a zone of peace, citing the number of murders and other violent crimes.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
English (US) · 