Latin American Countries Align With US as Navy Ships Arrive in the Caribbean Sea off the Venezuelan Coast (VIDEOS)

The board is set, the pieces are moving.

As Latin American countries start taking sides, the US’ largest military contingent in 25 years has been sent to Latin America.

Over 4,000 Marines and sailors have been deployed to the waters of the Caribbean as part of a ‘counter-cartel mission’.

This deployment includes the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (comprising the USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, and USS San Antonio), a nuclear-powered attack submarine, three destroyers (USS Gravely, USS Jason Duhan, and USS Sampson) a guided-missile cruiser, and additional P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.

Read: Venezuelan Dictator Maduro Deploys 15 Thousand Troops to the Colombian Border, as US Military Assets Close In on the Caribbean Sea

In the meantime, many Latin American countries are starting to position themselves regarding the upcoming operations.

• Argentina declares the Cartel de los Soles an international terrorist organization, joining the diplomatic offensive against the criminal network linked to Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
• Paraguay President Santiago Peña signed a decree classifying the Cartel of the Suns, allegedly led by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, as an international terrorist organization, and urged their citizens to leave the country immediately.
• The Republic of Guyana expressed ‘support for a collaborative and integrated approach to tackle transnational organized crime’.
• Even unprompted, Trinidad & Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar formally backed the deployment of US Navy Vessels against drug cartels, and even in the event of a Venezuelan invasion of Guyana over the Essequibo Region, allowing USN access.

And then, there’s Brazil.

• While Brasilia hasn’t even formally recognized Maduro’s presidency, everyone expects Lula da Silva to help his socialist counterpart.
• A news website specialized in military affairs reported that Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be preparing ‘Operation Imeri’, with the objective of rescuing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
• Lula’s government denied the report – but no one was quite convinced.

As all this is happening, US GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez said that Nicolas Maduro’s wife could turn him in because she ‘intends to rule Venezuela’.

Reuters reported:

“A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Thursday that seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, were either in the region or were expected to be there in the coming week.

[…] It is unclear what exactly their mission will be, but the Trump administration has said it can now use the military to go after drug cartels and criminal groups and has directed the Pentagon to prepare options.”

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