U.S. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham revealed in a news program broadcast on the 26th that U.S. President Trump informed him the day before that he planned to convene members of Congress after ending his visit to Asian countries to "inform him of possible future military operations against Venezuela and Colombia, including the possibility of expanding from surface operations to ground strikes."

On the same day, the U.S. missile destroyer "Gravely" stalled at the ports of Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, and will stay until 30th. In the meantime, the 22nd Expedition of the U.S. Navy Corps and the Defense Forces of Tito will hold joint training.

Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela face each other across Paria Bay, and the nearest coastline between the two countries is only about 10 kilometers.

Venezuelan Vice President Rodriguez issued a government communique on social media on the same day, condemning the provocative military exercises held by the US military in the Caribbean. The communique pointed out that the military exercise was conducted "under the coordination, funding and control" of the U.S. Southern Command, not for defensive purposes, but "a colonial military aggression" in an attempt to turn the Caribbean into a violent place controlled by the United States, which was a hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to peace in the Caribbean.

Recently, the U.S. has deployed several warships and troops in the Caribbean for drug detection, including the ¡°Sulphur Island¡± bipartisan assault ship, the ¡°Gravely¡± destroyer and the 22nd Expeditionary Squadron of the Naval Corps. The Pentagon announced on 24th that it is deploying the ¡°Gerald R. Ford¡± aircraft carrier assault group to the US Army¡¯s Southern Command¡¯s responsibility zone.

Since September, the Trump administration has claimed to have sunk 10 so-called "drug ships" and killed more than 40 "drug dealers" off the coast of Venezuela and the international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. According to recent reports from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Venezuela is not the main source of drugs flowing into the United States. The Venezuelan government has repeatedly accused the United States of intending to instigate regime change in Venezuela through military threats and conduct military expansion in Latin America.

Source: Xinhua International Headline