- Venezuelan armed forces were sent to patrol the country’s “territorial waters” in the Caribbean and at the Colombian border.
CARACAS, (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations urged member states to demand an end to US “hostile actions” following the deployment of troops and advanced weapons to the southern Caribbean Sea.
In a letter issued on Tuesday, Caracas voiced concern over the possible imminent arrival of the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Newport News and the missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, which media reports suggest could reach Venezuelan shores early next week.
“This constitutes a serious threat to regional peace and security,” the statement said. “The presence of an offensive nuclear submarine in the Latin American and Caribbean region contradicts our nations’ and peoples’ longstanding commitment to disarmament and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and it represents a clear act of intimidation.”
The Venezuelan Permanent Mission called for the US to respect the region’s 1967 denuclearized status, as well as its designation as a “Zone of Peace” by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014.
“We request clear and verifiable assurances from the US that it will not deploy or threaten to deploy nuclear weapons in the Latin American and Caribbean region,” the letter stressed.
In early August, Washington offered a US $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro, accusing Venezuela of being a “narco state.” US officials allege Maduro is linked to the so-called “Cartel de los Soles” and other drug cartels with the alleged aim of “flooding” the United States with narcotics.
Shortly after raising the bounty on Venezuela’s president, the US announced the deployment of a missile cruiser, a submarine, and three amphibious ships carrying 4,500 troops to the Caribbean, under the pretext of intercepting drug trafficking networks.
The Venezuelan government referred to the drug cartel accusations as a “ridiculous smokescreen” aimed at justifying more regime-change efforts against Caracas. Over the years, US authorities have not disclosed any court-backed evidence of narcotics activities related to the “Cartel de los Soles.”
Last week, ALBA-TCP member nations unanimously condemned the US threat to regional stability. By contrast, Caracas criticized the “shameful” positions of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago for aligning themselves with US discourse and opening their territories to US militarization.
For his part, Colombian president Gustavo Petro has rejected US intervention and said on Monday that “Cartel de los Soles” does not exist. “It is the fictitious excuse of the extreme right wing to overthrow governments that do not obey them,” he wrote on X.
Petro added that the flow of Colombian cocaine through Venezuela is controlled by the “Junta of drug trafficking,” whose leaders are based in Europe and the Middle East.
Reports from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) state that less than 10 percent of US-bound cocaine flowed through Venezuela and the Eastern Caribbean corridor. A 2020 document from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) by Venezuelan government critics Geoff Ramsey and David Smilde concluded that the country “is not a primary transit country for US-bound cocaine” and that the bulk of drug shipments reach US territory via Washington-allied countries in Central America.
Since the DEA was expelled in 2005, Caracas says the country has made increasing progress in confiscating drugs and drug-related infrastructure. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on Monday that over 52 tons of drugs had been seized this year.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced Tuesday that military vessels and 15,000 members of the armed forces will patrol the country’s “territorial waters” in the Caribbean and the Colombian border in order to reinforce anti-narcotics efforts.
The move comes as Venezuela remains on high alert amid intensifying US military threats. On Monday, President Maduro said all armed forces branches were prepared to defend the country, while many civilians joined a voluntary militia enrollment drive in public squares over the weekend.
During his weekly address, the Venezuelan leader recalled that the South American nation has been a “territory free of coca crops and cocaine production” for 15 consecutive years, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Venezuelan president likewise criticized Washington’s so-called “war on drugs,” arguing it has justified interventions in countries like Afghanistan, where poppy production rose during the 20-year US occupation, while the decades-long US-sponsored “Plan Colombia” coincided with a sharp rise in cocaine production in the neighboring country.
The post Venezuela denounces US Military Threat at UN, Mobilizes troops to patrol territorial waters and border appeared first on Caribbean News Global.
