“With the leadership of Venezuela’s Constitutional President Nicolas Maduro, I order that we begin exercises for the sovereign Caribbean to strengthen our defense capabilities,” Venezolana de Television quoted Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez as saying.
According to the Minister, the three-day drill involves all sorts of Venezuelan forces, including aerospace, special, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, navy, aerial, ground, and aerospace defense forces.
According to President Maduro, drills will be carried out in the deployment of the US navals in the Caribbean as Venezuela faces the biggest threat of US invasions seen in the last 100 years.
On August 19, Reuters reported that three US missile destroyers (USS Gravity, USS Jason Dunham and USS Sampson) had been deployed near Venezuela as part of an effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels. Other reports mentioned the deployment of the USS Newport News submarine, USS Lake Ellie missile cruiser, lander and troops of 4,500. According to the New York Times, US President Donald Trump secretly signed instructions to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels.
Washington claims Venezuela has not done enough to fight drug trafficking.
MNA/