CARACAS: Venezuela said Wednesday it had begun military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to US military activity in the region.
Forces deployed for what Washington called an anti-drug operation have destroyed at least two Venezuelan boats carrying a combined 14 people allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean this month, a move slammed as “extrajudicial execution” by UN experts.
The strikes and a deployment of US warships in the region has raised fears of an invasion in Venezuela, whose President Nicolas Maduro Washington accuses of being a cartel leader.
“There will be air defense deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones... We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Wednesday, citing the “threatening, vulgar voice” of the United States.
Public television showed images of amphibious vessels and warships deployed off La Orchila, where Venezuela has a military base.
The armed forces said the three-day exercise will involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats from the “Special Naval Militia.”
La Orchila island is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
Venezuela has urged an investigation of a US strike on an alleged drug boat early this month that killed 11 people — one of three Venezuelan vessels US President Donald Trump said his country had “knocked off” without providing details.
Maduro, whose last two elections the US and many other countries did not recognize, has vowed Caracas would defend itself against what he labeled US “aggression” against his country.
With eye on US threat, Venezuela holds Caribbean military exercises
https://arab.news/2pbqp
With eye on US threat, Venezuela holds Caribbean military exercises
- Amphibious vessels and warships deployed off La Orchila island, where Venezuela has a military base
- The 3 day exercise will involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats
US will respond to Rwanda’s violation of peace pact, says Rubio
- Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence
WASHINGTON: Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda had clearly violated the peace agreement it signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Washington last week and vowed unspecified “action” in response.
The Rwandan-backed M23 armed group advanced in eastern DRC and seized the key border city of Uvira, just days after the leaders signed the “Washington Accords” on Dec. 4.
“Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords, and the US will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X.
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UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive ‘has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.’
The capture of Uvira, along the border with Burundi, has raised fears that the conflict could escalate into a regional war.
As part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province, the armed group’s takeover follows its earlier this year capture of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s mineral-rich east.
On Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused Rwanda of “leading the region toward more instability and toward war.”
“The Rwandan defense forces have provided materiel, logistics, and training support to M23 as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops,” not including possible reinforcements during the latest offensive, Waltz told the UN Security Council.
The Rwandan firepower has included surface-to-air missiles, drones, and artillery, he added.
Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swaths of territory, displacing tens of thousands and leading to a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
Earlier this month, UN experts said Rwanda’s army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.
Waltz told the Security Council meeting that the US “is deeply concerned and increasingly disappointed” by this resurgence of violence.
The envoy denounced “the scale and sophistication” of Rwanda’s involvement in eastern DRC.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned the new offensive “has revived the specter of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences.”
“Recent developments pose a serious risk of the progressive fragmentation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly its eastern part,” he said.
Burundi on Friday accused Rwanda of bombing its territory, and its ambassador, Zephyrin Maniratanga, told the council it “reserves the right to use self-defense.”
He warned that if the attacks continue, it would be extremely difficult to avoid an escalation between the two African countries.
“Rwanda is not waging war against the Republic of Burundi and has no intention of doing that,” Ambassador Martin Ngoga said.
Meanwhile, Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner criticized the Security Council for its “lack of action” and called for sanctions against Rwanda.
Despite a resolution adopted in February demanding the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and a ceasefire, “the situation is undeniable: another city has fallen, a parallel administration has consolidated itself, thousands more families have fled, and others have been killed, raped, and terrorized,” she said.
