The US Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago announced that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, will visit the country on Tuesday, where he will meet with Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, less than a week after the conclusion of joint military exercises between marines and local troops and amid tensions between Washington and Venezuela.
“The visit will focus on the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries, the strengthening of regional stability and regional unity around the vital importance of combating illicit trafficking and transnational criminal organizations,” reads the statement released by the US embassy.
Caine will arrive in Trinidad and Tobago as part of his tour of Latin America - which took him to Puerto Rico this Monday - and will do so one day after the declaration of the Cartel of the Suns as a foreign terrorist organization came into effect, a criminal gang sanctioned last July by Washington for its alleged links with the authorities of the Venezuelan regime.
So far, it has also served as a pretext for Washington to perpetrate attacks against vessels in Caribbean waters, although it has also extended them to the eastern Pacific, adding at least 83 deaths in 21 operations in total.
The Donald Trump Administration blames Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials for running the organization, a situation for which it has given the green light for the CIA to operate in the country, without ruling out the use of military force.
However, in this regard, Persad-Bissessar herself has denied any hypothetical launch of an attack on Venezuela from her territory, despite pointing out that Port of Spain"benefits enormously" from its alliance with Washington against the trafficking of arms, drugs and people.
For its part, Caracas stated this Monday that the designation of the “non-existent” Cartel of the Suns is nothing more than a “ridiculous fabrication” to justify an “illegitimate intervention”.
The visit of the US military leader also comes as multiple airlines, such as Iberia and Air Europa, among others, have canceled their flights to Venezuela in recent days, after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an alert to"exercise extreme caution" for aircraft flying over Venezuelan territory due to possible interference and security problems.
