The diplomatic relationship between Venezuela and the United States reached a new low this week after President Donald Trump confirmed that U.S. forces destroyed two more Venezuelan vessels. The attacks come in addition to a previous strike earlier this month that reportedly killed 11 people allegedly affiliated with the criminal group Tren de Aragua.
However, the regime of Nicolás Maduro isn't looking for friends in the neighboring countries. Venezuelan leaders said any attacks launched from the territories of Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago would provoke retaliation.
On Tuesday morning, Trump announced the latest attack in a post on social media, sharing video footage of a boat exploding at sea. He described the footage as evidence of U.S. military action against what he called "narco-terrorists." Later at the White House, Trump said U.S. forces had "recorded proof and evidence" that the vessels were carrying cocaine and fentanyl.
Hours before, Venezuela was threatening Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
"I tell these governments that if we are attacked from their territory, they will also receive a response, and that is in legitimate defense," said Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela's defense minister, in a video posted Sunday to his Telegram channel.
Since it was reported that Trump ordered the Pentagon to deploy troops to the Caribbean Sea, specifically near Venezuela, as part of a campaign to target criminal organizations in the region, both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have expressed support for the U.S.-led initiative in South America.
Last month, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar publicly backed the deployment of U.S. warships and troops, saying the time had come for coordinated international action against transnational crime.
"Trinidad and Tobago has been helplessly drowning in blood and violence for the last 20 years. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke the truth when he mentioned our high murder and crime rates," Persad-Bissessar said, as quoted by Caribbean Life. "No amount of Trump derangement syndrome tantrums or anti-American propaganda will prevent my government from welcoming assistance to combat the terrorist drug cartels."
She added that drug, human, and firearms trafficking have fueled widespread crime, gang activity, and financial offenses across the Caribbean, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago.
The prime minister also said her government would support Guyana in the event of Venezuelan aggression.
"If the Maduro regime launches an attack against the Guyanese people or invades their territory, and the United States requests access to defend Guyana, my government will unhesitatingly grant it," Persad-Bissessar said last month.
According to the Miami Herald, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez last week accused Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago of acting as "vassals" of the United States, and warned both nations not to consider any form of attack against Venezuelan territory.
"You should take it easy. Don't dare, don't even think about it," Rodríguez said. "You are lending yourselves to the perverse plans of an aggression against the Venezuelan people."
In response, Persad-Bissessar rejected Rodríguez's claims, calling them alarmist. She emphasized that her government had no agreements with the United States to invade Venezuela or deploy Trinidadian forces.
Padrino's accusations against Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago also come amid a long-standing territorial dispute over the Essequibo region, a resource-rich area claimed by both Venezuela and Guyana. The Maduro government has repeatedly warned that Guyana's close ties with the United States could escalate tensions in the dispute.
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