File – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
By Alicia Chamely
VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro and his government have been formally designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the Trump administration, signalling an expanded authority to act against Venezuela.
A foreign terrorist organisation designation is the US State Department’s most serious counterterrorism designation.
The official designation allows for US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Maduro’s assets and infrastructure. It does not, however, explicitly authorise the use of lethal force.
Plans to designate Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organisation, which the US had accused Nicolas Maduro of leading, was first announced on November 16.
“Cartel de los Soles by and with other FTO’s including Tren de Aragua and Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence through our hemisphere as for trafficking drugs in the United States and Europe,” a November 16 press release from the US State Department read.
The Venezuelan government responded to the designation as “ridiculous,” having denied any involvement in the narcotics trade.
Following reports of the official designation Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil posted on his Telegram account: “Venezuela categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejects the new and ridiculous fabrication by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, Marco Rubio, which designates the non-existent Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization.”
The designation comes amid a massive build up of US military forces in the Southern Caribbean as part of the anti-drug trafficking exercise “Operation Southern Spear.”
The US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R Ford, arrived in the Caribbean on November 16, joining at least nine other warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft.
Reports of sightings of US warships in Trinidadian waters were made last week; however, the government had not given any official confirmation or comment on what was reported.
On Thursday, foreign media reported the largest show of force conducted by the US military with six aircrafts, including a supersonic F/A-18E fighter jet, and a B-52 strategic bomber, conducting a drill off the coast of Venezuela.
In a statement posted on Friday by the United States Air Forces Southern Command, the drill was characterised a “bomber attack demo” to deter traffickers.
On Friday, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) issued a warning to all pilots to practice caution over Venezuelan airspace “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity.”
By Sunday, President of the Airlines Association in Venezuela Marisela de Loaiza, confirmed that six airlines had indefinitely suspended flights into Caracas. These airlines were TAP, LATAM, Avianca, Iberia, Gol and Caribbean Airlines.
As of Monday morning, there was no advisory on Caribbean Airlines website regarding the suspension, nor was there anything on their social media pages. Additionally when searching for flights via CAL’s online booking, there are no Caracas flights available.
AZP News reached out to Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour but received no reply.
While there had been no confirmed reports of any military action set to take place by the US, it had been reported that foreign diplomats were being moved out of Venezuela by their respective countries.
A foreign news outlet informed AZP News, that their correspondents in T&T had been told as of Monday it was no longer safe to go out to sea to report.
A Reuters team plan to film at the Hibiscus platform on the northwestern coast of Trinidad on Sunday was cancelled due to rough seas.
On Friday, Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge invoked Standing Order 27 (1G), refusing to answer if the US military had been granted permission to facilitate certain operations within Trinidad and Tobago’s territory.
The question was posed by Member of Parliament for Arouca Lopinot Marvin Gonzales as an urgent question during Friday’s Parliamentary sitting at the Red House, Port-of-Spain.
Gonzales questions followed the sighting of US warships off the coast of Trinidad and numerous reports of military aircrafts flying within T&T’s airspace.
Calls and messages sent to Minister Sturge regarding the designation of Maduro and his government as a foreign terrorist and what any action from the US would mean for T&T, were left unanswered.
Last week, amid speculation of T&T’s involvement in US military operations, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar issued a statement saying T&T would not be used as a “launch pad” for any attacks against Venezuela.
