Venezuela responds sharply to the growing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean and surrounding waters. While Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has sought to distance Trinidad and Tobago from Washington's actions against Venezuela, comments from a senior Venezuelan official have raised concern, appearing to single out this country's leadership.
00:00Even as Prime Minister Kamala Prasad-Bissassa emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago is not party to the United States' blockade of Venezuela,
00:09a senior Venezuelan minister has issued remarks widely interpreted as a warning directed at the Prime Minister herself.
00:17In his weekly televised broadcast, Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello Rondon, referred to the recent permission granted for U.S. military aircraft to transit Trinidad and Tobago's airspace.
00:47The live studio audience responded with chants, the homeland is defended.
01:05In response, Prime Minister Kamala Prasad-Bissassa tells TV6 News, quote, his comments are misdirected.
01:11I think he should build up some courage and pick up his argument with President Trump, as those are U.S. warships off the Venezuelan border.
01:20I wish Mr. Cabello a Merry Christmas and hope he has a wonderful 2026, end quote.
01:26Meanwhile, Venezuela has moved quickly to counter the U.S. seizure of sanctioned oil tankers.
01:32President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the Venezuelan Navy to escort oil vessels as they leave the country's ports.
01:38But even in Washington, the expanding military operation is facing scrutiny.
01:44On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth briefed members of the Senate and House on Operation Southern Spey,
01:54under which an estimated 15,000 U.S. troops have been mobilized.
01:59It's, I believe, our 22nd or 23rd bipartisan engagement.
02:02We'll continue to engage with Congress on this.
02:04We're headed to the House now to do a similar briefing and provide updates on this counter-drug mission,
02:10which is focused on dismantling the infrastructure of these terrorist organizations that are operating in our hemisphere,
02:16undermining the security of Americans, killing Americans, poisoning Americans.
02:21And this has been a highly successful mission that's ongoing and continued,
02:25and we're pleased to be here today to update Congress on how that's developing and how that's moving forward.
02:30The U.S. lawmakers were unconvinced.
02:32And I don't understand why there would be several thousand Marines on ships.
02:37I served as a Marine on ship.
02:40We're not there to conduct boat strikes.
02:43We're just there to go in on the ground.
02:45So I don't understand why there would be thousands of Marines off the coast of Venezuela
02:48if they do not intend to actually use them on the ground.
02:52This is an administration who murders the mules and liberates the kingpins.
02:57Before the president goes into Venezuela, that's what he wants to do.
03:00We all heard what Susie Weil said today, that what this is really about, that he's going to continue,
03:05the president's going to continue this until such time there's a regime change in with Venezuela.
03:11So if this is about regime change, it seems to me that the administration should say that's what it is.
03:18Despite the concerns, Operation Southern Spare continues.
03:23On Wednesday, the U.S. military carried out another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel it identified as being operated by a designated terrorist organization in international waters.
03:34The U.S. Department of Defense says intelligence confirmed the vessel was traveling along a known narcotics trafficking route in the eastern Pacific
03:42and was actively engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
03:47This latest strike brings the total number of people killed in U.S. narco-trafficking operations under this mission to 90.
Be the first to comment