A guided missile destroyer, the USS Gravely, docked in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday. The ship is part of what the Trump administration calls a counterdrug operation, but one that’s drawing outrage across the region.
Venezuela is calling the move a “hostile provocation” after the U.S. also moved the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford closer to its coast.
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Asked on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday whether President Donald Trump was preparing for land strikes, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it’s “a real possibility.”
He said, “I think President Trump’s made a decision that [Nicolás] Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug, drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long, and President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia about future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia.”
However, government officials from Trinidad and Tobago said the warship will remain in Trinidad until Thursday so both countries can carry out training exercises, CBS News reported.
Venezuela’s response
The U.S. insists it’s targeting drug traffickers, not governments, but Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is warning the buildup could trigger what he calls a “new eternal war” in the Caribbean.
On Sunday, the Venezuelan government denounced the presence, calling it a “hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to the peace of the Caribbean,” and accused the U.S. of preparing to launch a false flag attack.
