Venezuela Deploys Warships To Its Coastline As U.S. Vessels Approach

Venezuela announced the deployment of warships to its coastline as U.S. vessels continue to approach the region.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez also said there would also be a "significant" deployment of drones, as well as "larger vessels further north in our territorial waters."

In the meantime, the country's authoritarian government sent a letter to the UN asking for its support over what it described as "continued threats" from the United States.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil gave the letter to Gianluca Rampolla, UN official in the South American country. It claims that the country "strongly denounces the deployment, which is a grave threat to peace and security in the region."

"The presence of an offensive submarine in Latin America and the Caribbean contradicts our nations' historic commitment to disarming and the peaceful resolution of disputes, and represents a clear act of intimidation that is against the letter and spirit of the UN Charter," the letter adds.

The document goes on to claim that the use of a nuclear submarine, which has no transparency regarding its load or rules of use, undermines the purpose of the charter and erodes the collective trust in the regime of regional denuclearization."

The document ends with three requests: the end of the U.S. deployment, "clear and verifiable guarantees from the U.S. that it won't deploy nor threat to use nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean," and a conference attended by countries from the region regarding the most recent actions.

Elsewhere in the country, Diosdado Cabello, vice president of Venezuela's ruling party and Minister of Interior, said that 15,000 troops will be deployed along the border with Colombia.

Cabello said the operation involves drones, aircraft, river patrols, and rapid-response units, which will initially focus on border states Zulia and Táchira states in what he called "Zona de Paz #1" ("Peace Zone #1). He framed the deployment as an effort to protect sovereignty and disrupt narcotrafficking routes. "Those who try to transport drugs through Venezuela will receive a forceful response," he claimed.

Cabello also insisted that Venezuela accounts for about 5% of global trafficking flows, citing a United Nations report, and rejected claims that the government is linked to cartels, as the Trump administration is claiming. Last Thursday, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Terry Cole, accused Venezuela of collaborating with Colombian guerrilla groups to ship "record amounts of cocaine" to Mexican cartels trafficking into the United States. Officials are also claiming this merits the decision to send troops off its coast.