The U.S. will reportedly be deploying additional naval ships to the South Carribean Sea off the coast of Venezuela as Washington’s claims of deploying its military to combat drug trafficking and to pressure Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro have led to speculation of something bigger.
Reports emerged that the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, and the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul, a combat ship, were set to deploy to join the 3 other Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers and amphibious transport ships that were deployed last week.
The Newport News will also join what is at least one other intelligence gathering submarine as well as P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft, and the reported 4,500 servicemen aboard these ships, including 2,200 Marines.
Last week, following the deployment, Maduro ordered the mobilization of the Bolivarian Militia, and on Monday, it was announced by Defense Minister Diosdado Cabello that 15,000 Venezuelan troops would be deployed to the border with Colombia.
The U.S. has accused Maduro of leading a drug cartel, called the “Cartel of the Sun” and have put a $50 million bounty out on him for information leading to his arrest, something that Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on Monday was false, rebuking Washington’s claims about a cartel being led by the Venezuelan government.
The deployment of such a large military contingent, for a task that is normally relegated to the U.S. Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies, has increasingly led to worry that the U.S. may be using its designation of Maduro as the head of a “narco state” to launch a regime change operation against Caracas.
Over the last week, Colombian mercenaries, who had received training in drone warfare in Ukraine and had returned back to their country, have downed a Colombian police helicopter using an FBV drone, and on Sunday, a Colombian naval ship was struck by a kamikaze drone, something that may have led to the decision by Caracas to reinforce the border with Colombia.