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Venezuela blasts US-Trinidad and Tobago joint military drills as 'military provocation'

Iran Press TV

Monday, 27 October 2025 6:52 AM

Venezuela has denounced the US-Trinidad and Tobago joint military exercises in the Caribbean as a "military provocation."

After a US warship arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez lashed out at the neighboring Caribbean government for conducting "a military provocation" with the CIA.

"Venezuela denounces the military provocation of Trinidad and Tobago, in coordination with the CIA, aimed at provoking a war in the Caribbean," Rodriguez stated on her Telegram channel on Sunday.

Rodriguez criticized Trinidad and Tobago for acting as a vassal nation and a "military colony" in Latin America for the United States government to wage war against the South.

The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago lies just off the coast of Venezuela, about 11 kilometers away at its closest point.

The American warship USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer that has US marines and helicopters on board, docked in the Port of Spain, capital of Trinidad and Tobago, located on the western coast of the island of Trinidad, on Sunday.

The US warship is scheduled to stay for four days, during which it will take part in joint training with local military forces.

On Friday, the Trump administration ordered the deployment of the USS Ford and its strike group to the Caribbean. It carries fighter jets along with electronic warfare jets and surveillance aircraft.

Pentagon said it was sending CSG-12 to the Southern Command in the Caribbean, claiming it only sought to enhance US capabilities to "detect, monitor, and interdict illicit activities that threaten the security and prosperity of the United States."

This is the biggest military buildup of US forces in the waters off Venezuela in the past decades.

Earlier this month, Trump confirmed reports that he had also ordered the CIA to carry out covert operations in the Latin American country and was considering carrying out land attacks there.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro says the Trump administration is "fabricating" a war against the Latin-American nation to topple its government and take control of its vast energy reserves.

Maduro, who is a proponent of the Leftist Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement, has survived numerous US-backed assassination attempts and other efforts by Washington and its local lackeys to bring him down.

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry slammed Washington following Trump's announcement that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert actions inside Venezuela and said he was weighing carrying out land attacks there.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Trump's anti-Venezuela stance was undermining peace and stability in the Caribbean and constitutes a grave violation of international law and the UN Charter.

The Foreign Ministry said it had formally lodged a complaint against Washington at the extraordinary meeting of Latin America's top diplomats at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).