In a statement on Monday, the Venezuelan government condemned joint exercises with the U.S. Southern Command with Trinidad and Tobago from October 26 to 30 as a hostile provocation that endangers stability across the Caribbean.
Caracas also announced that it had captured a CIA-linked mercenary unit and said the “planned false flag attack” could be used to justify all-out war, according to a statement from Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who pointed to similarities with historical incidents such as the USS Maine and the Gulf of Tonkin.
The statement accused the Trinidad government of surrendering its sovereignty to U.S. interests, enabling regional aggression and turning the territory into an arena of coercion.
Caracas vowed that the armed forces and civilian authorities would continue to mobilize with all their might to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Additionally, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Iván Gil Pinto accused Washington of staging a CIA-backed false flag operation and said criminal organizations linked to the CIA were being dismantled.
“The fabricated operation consists of attacks on anchored US warships to incriminate us and justify the invasion,” he warned, calling on Trinidad and Tobago not to use its territory for operations that threaten peace in the Caribbean.
The statement came amid a wide-ranging U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that has included flights of warships, drones, supersonic bombers, and deadly attacks on maritime targets near Venezuela since September.
The U.S. government characterizes these actions as counter-drug operations, but critics warn they are a pretext for regime change and resource exploitation.
Since early September, a spate of U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean near Venezuela have killed at least 40 people, further escalating legal and diplomatic disputes over the scope and legitimacy of the attacks.
Failed diplomatic efforts, increased sanctions and opposition activities highlight the political pressure on Caracas.