Venezuelan FM Expresses Concern over US New Deployments in Caribbean
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Tuesday met with UN Resident Coordinator in Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla, expressing concern over recent US military moves in the Caribbean region, such as the deployment of a nuclear-powered submarine, and calling for UN intervention.
"We discussed the threats from the United States facing the region, which was declared a Zone of Peace in 2014 by CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), a recognition ratified by the United Nations," he said in a post on the social media platform Telegram later in the day, Xinhua reported.
According to Gil, Venezuela hopes that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will provide support "to restore common sense."
Gil dismissed the US claims that its new deployments in the Caribbean are aimed at fighting drug trafficking, noting that Venezuela is a "territory free of illicit crops."
The USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, will arrive in the Caribbean region early next week, media reports said.
In response, the Venezuelan side has demanded Washington put an immediate stop to the new deployments in the Caribbean region while calling for a guarantee that it will not deploy or threaten to use nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean.
