3 weeks ago
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro - VENEZUELAN president Nicolas Maduro has accused Trinidad and Tobago of working with the US and the CIA to provoke a military confrontation in the Caribbean, claiming recent joint exercises involving a US Navy destroyer were part of a wider destabilisation plan against Venezuela.
He also approved a proposal to suspend all gas and energy-related agreements with Trinidad and Tobago, confirmed during an interview on Venezuelan state television. The decision, he said, followed tensions with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, her previous comments, and Trinidad and Tobago’s acceptance of US forces in the region.
Speaking on his Con Maduro programme on teleSUR on the night of October 27. Maduro alleged military drills with the US ship near were designed to generate a conflict in the Caribbean under the sponsorship of the US Southern Command.
He further claimed Venezuelan security forces captured a group of “mercenaries financed by the CIA”, leading to the discovery of what he described as a planned “high-level attack” involving US naval units stationed near Venezuelan waters. Though he did not say when the group was captured.
Maduro said his government handed "some clues” to Trinidad and Tobago but was not offering any evidence to the US because “they [the US] are hand in hand with the CIA.” He added the proof provided showed "who planned to plant bombs at the US headquarters in Caracas, and that those responsible are being protected in Miami."
He lamented Trinidad and Tobago’s 14-kilometre maritime border with Venezuela, describing both nations as “brothers and sisters.” He made historical claims suggesting the islands were once part of Venezuelan territory before being “invaded” by the British Empire.
Drawing parallels with past US military incidents, Maduro compared the current tensions with US to the 1898 sinking of the USS Maine in Cuba and the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam, both of which he called “self-inflicted provocations” used to justify wars.
“The same was intended with this ship near Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Maduro also accused Persad-Bissessar of supporting “conflict to arise,” while praising Venezuelans who, he said, “took to the streets to protest against imperialist threats and to defend peace.”
He claimed Venezuela had dismantled three “terrorist operations” in recent months, alleging one involved a plan to bomb Victory Square in Caracas. He said the “White House itself” had admitted to authorising covert CIA operations in Venezuela before concluding Venezuela would “defend its sovereignty and peace” amid what he called “imperialist aggression
English (US) ·