CARACAS – On Monday, Venezuela’s Vice President called for the termination of energy pacts with Trinidad and Tobago, condemning the island nation’s recent actions as “hostile.”
Currently, Trinidad is accommodating a U.S. warship, part of a contentious initiative aimed at intercepting Venezuelan speedboats suspected of smuggling narcotics to the United States.
The USS Gravely, a destroyer equipped with guided missiles, docked in Trinidad on Sunday to engage in joint naval exercises with Trinidadian forces.
Venezuelan officials have labeled Trinidad’s hosting of the vessel as antagonistic, whereas Trinidad’s authorities maintain that such collaborations with the U.S. are routine.
Venezuela’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, expressed on national television that Trinidad’s prime minister has aligned with the U.S.’s aggressive military stance.
Rodriguez, who also serves as Venezuela’s hydrocarbons minister, announced plans to urge President Nicolas Maduro to exit a 2015 pact. This agreement currently allows joint natural gas exploration between the two countries, which are divided by a narrow 7-mile (11-kilometer) bay at its closest point.
Unlike other leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean who have compared strikes on alleged drug vessels to extrajudicial killings, Trinidad Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesar has supported the campaign.
The prime minister has said that she’d rather see drug traffickers “blown to pieces” than have them kill the citizens of her nation.
Trinidad, which has a population of about 1.4 million people, is sometimes used by smugglers to store and sort drugs before shipping them to Europe and North America.
Venezuela’s government has described the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean as a threat, with government officials there claiming that the deployment of U.S. warships to the region is part of an effort to overthrow Maduro, who has been widely accused of stealing last year’s election.
Tensions between Venezuela and the United States escalated last week as the Trump administration announced it would be deploying its largest aircraft career to the southern Caribbean, complementing a flotilla that already includes eight warships, a submarine, drones and fighter jets.
The Trump administration has launched 10 strikes against alleged drug carrying vessels since September, when it first deployed ships to the southern Caribbean. At least 43 people have been killed In the controversial attacks.
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