A US warship arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday for joint exercises near the coast of Venezuela, as Washington increased pressure on drug traffickers and the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The USS Gravely, whose upcoming arrival was announced on 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 defence forces.
The exercises are part of a mounting military campaign by the US President Donald Trump against drug-trafficking organisations in Latin America and Mr Trump's arch-foe Mr Maduro in particular.
US forces have blown up at least 10 boats they claimed were smuggling narcotics, killing at least 43 people, and Mr Trump has also threatened ground attacks on suspected cartels in Venezuela.
Mr Maduro, a long-time enemy of Mr Trump whose re-election last year was widely rejected as fraudulent, says the US is trying to topple him. The stand-off escalated sharply on Friday when the Pentagon ordered the deployment of the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, to the region. Mr Trump has also authorised CIA operations against Venezuela.
Mr Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday night that the Trump administration is creating the pretext for an endless new war. “They promised they would never again get involved in a war and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” said Maduro.
Mr Trump has accused him of being the leader of the organised crime gang Tren de Aragua, without providing evidence.
