US warship docking prompts Venezuela retaliation against island neighbour Trinidad
Venezuela suspends energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago after a US guided missile destroyer arrived for exercises
Venezuela has revoked energy deals with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago for its support of a US military offensive in the Caribbean, potentially raising the economic cost of the twin-island nation’s alliance with the Trump administration.
Trinidad has been hosting one of the US warships involved in a controversial campaign to destroy Venezuelan speedboats allegedly carrying drugs to the United States.
During his weekly television show on Monday night, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro accused Trinidad of acting as the “aircraft carrier of the US empire” and said that he was left with no choice but to pull out of treaties signed with Trinidad 10 years ago.
The announcement came hours after the nation’s vice-president, who is also Venezuela’s minister of hydrocarbons, had suggested the agreements should be cancelled.
On Sunday, the USS Gravely, a destroyer fitted with guided missiles, arrived in Trinidad to conduct joint exercises with Trinidad’s navy.