Venezuelan Defense Minister Lopez said on the 26th that 15,000 soldiers have begun to be deployed to fight drug trafficking gangs in the areas bordering Colombia.
In a video released on social media, he stated that this military deployment also includes reconnaissance planes, drones, and naval patrol teams, mainly carrying out missions in Lake Maracaibo and the Venezuelan Gulf in the northwest of the country.
According to a report by US media on the 20th, US President Trump decided to deploy warships in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela to "combat Latin American drug trafficking organizations."
Concern Over US Deployment of Nuclear Submarines
On the 26th, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Gil met with UN coordinator in Venezuela Rampolla, expressing concern about the US's recent intent to send troops to the Caribbean Sea and even deploy nuclear submarines, and called for UN intervention.
He posted on social media that in 2014, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States declared the region a zone of peace, a decision also recognized by the United Nations. However, the US government has recently exerted threats on the region, even planning to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. Venezuela hopes UN Secretary-General Guterres will support and help all parties regain prudence.
He said that the US's deployment of troops to the Caribbean Sea under the pretext of combating drug trafficking "does not correspond to reality." The Venezuelan government’s anti-drug efforts have already been formally recognized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
In addition, Gil also posted an open letter from Venezuela’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations to UN member states on social media. The letter said that, according to multiple international sources, the US intends to deploy more warships to the Caribbean, including the missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the fast attack nuclear submarine USS Newport News, and these warships are expected to arrive at their target locations early next week. The Venezuelan mission strongly condemned this and called on the US to immediately stop its military deployments in the Caribbean and guarantee that it will not deploy or threaten to use nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, in order to restore regional peace, security, and stability.