US Warship Docks in Trinidad and Tobago Amid Rising Tensions With Venezuela

A United States Navy destroyer has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, just off the coast of Venezuela, as tensions between Washington and Caracas continue to escalate.

The USS Gravely, a guided-missile destroyer carrying US Marines, docked in Port of Spain on Sunday ahead of joint military exercises with Trinidadian forces. The ship, equipped with advanced weapons systems and capable of operating helicopters, recently participated in counter-narcotics missions in the region.

Its arrival follows weeks of increased US military activity in the Caribbean, where President Donald Trump’s administration has launched several deadly strikes on vessels it claims were used by “narco-terrorists.”

On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, to the same area, a move that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced as proof that Washington was “fabricating a war” against his government.

Trump has accused Maduro, without evidence, of leading the Tren de Aragua, a powerful Venezuelan organised-crime group.

“They are fabricating a war, and they want to justify aggression,” Maduro said in response.

Venezuela has responded by launching its own coastal defence drills, with Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino saying the exercises are designed to counter “large-scale military threats.”

Security expert Javed Ali of the University of Michigan told Al Jazeera that the deployment represents a “projection of significant military force” meant to pressure the Maduro regime, not to prepare for a full invasion.

“It is so difficult to know what the White House is thinking,” Ali said. “Looking at how the US has conducted wars in the past, it would not be with a small footprint like this.”

The current US build-up — which includes eight naval ships, 10 F-35 fighter jets, and a nuclear-powered submarine — is the largest Caribbean deployment since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

With warships edging ever closer to Venezuelan waters, the Caribbean once again finds itself on the fault line of US military ambition and Latin American resistance.

Tags: United States, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, USS Gravely, Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro, Caribbean, military buildup, USS Gerald R. Ford, Latin America, tensions, counter-narcotics, geopolitics