By Kathyria Caicedo (La Estrella de Panamá)
HAVANA TIMES – Amid the military deployment, news broke of the passage of the US destroyer USS Lake Erie through the Panama Canal.
On Friday, the US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea continued, in the midst of tensions with the Venezuelan government.
In this context, the missile destroyer USS Lake Erie, part of the US war fleet, crossed the Panama Canal.
This week, the US Fleet Forces released the first images of US.troops moving into international waters in the Caribbean Sea, 200 nautical miles off the Venezuelan coast.
On August 25, Reuters news agency reported that the United States had ordered additional ships to be sent to the southern Caribbean, including the USS Lake Erie, a guided-missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a fast-attack nuclear submarine.
After the news broke, this week the presence of the USS Lake Erie in the Canal was confirmed.
Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government of alleged ties to drug trafficking.
The “anti-narcotics fight” is among the main arguments used by the Trump administration to justify its show of force in the Caribbean, although the White House has so far avoided speaking directly of an intervention against Venezuela.
Maduro said Thursday that “there is no way” the United States would invade the South American country and reiterated his call for the population to “enlist” in the armed forces; meanwhile, opposition sectors are calling on citizens to boycott the call-up.
First published in Spanish by La Estrella de Panama and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
