XPost: alt.politics, soc.culture.usa
CARACAS — A U.S. Navy ship navigated near the Venezuelan coast on
Tuesday in what the U.S. military's Southern Command called a "freedom
of navigation operation," a day after a cargo ship from U.S. foe Iran
docked at a port of the South American country.
In a post on its website, the Southern Command said the USS Nitze, a
missile destroyer, sailed in an area outside Venezuela's territorial
waters - which extend some 12 nautical miles from its coasts - but
within an area the Venezuelan government "falsely claims to have control
over."
The move comes after the Trump administration in April said it was
deploying more U.S. military assets to the Caribbean in part to disrupt
alleged narcotics shipments by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a
socialist viewed as illegitimate by the United States and dozens of
other mostly Western countries.
With U.S. sanctions on its key oil industry leaving Venezuela
increasingly isolated, Maduro last month turned to Iran - another
country under heavy U.S. sanctions - for fuel shipments. Washington said
it was considering a response to those shipments but took no military
action.
On Monday, the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Golsan docked in the
Venezuelan port of La Guaira carrying what Iran's Embassy in Caracas
said was food to supply the South American nation's first Iranian
supermarket. There was no indication that the Golsan and Nitze
confronted each other.
Neither Venezuela's information ministry nor its armed forces' press
office immediately responded to requests for comment.
Although President Donald Trump has insisted that all options are on the
table to oust Maduro, U.S. officials have made clear there is little
appetite for military force.
(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/23/world/americas/23reuters-usa-venezuela-military.html
--
/jat
Knowledge will set you free
El conocimiento te hará libre
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)