Colombia and the United States announced the start of military exercises in the Caribbean Sea, which for the first time include a nuclear submarine, amid tensions with Venezuela, Russia’s ally in the region, according to a statement released on Monday (02/28/2022). .
The Colombian Ministry of Defense assured in its report that the maneuvers aim to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking and the protection of “national sovereignty.”
“Today the Colombian Navy and the United States Navy begin interoperability exercises in the Colombian Caribbean Sea,” said the head of that portfolio, Diego Molano, in a video sent to the media and recorded the day before.
For his part, the Venezuelan Defense Minister, General Vladimir Padrino, “categorically” rejected the Colombian-American exercises, calling them “imperialist ostentation,” in a message on Twitter.
The action “ratifies the mutual trust of that alliance that the United States has with Colombia,” Molano stressed, evoking the close ties between the two countries for decades.
Bogotá had questioned weeks ago an alleged attempt at Russian interference in the volatile Colombian-Venezuelan border, through support and military advice to Venezuelan troops. The Moscow embassy rejected the accusations.
Minister Molano did not detail how long the rehearsal maneuvers in the Caribbean will last, nor the number of US troops involved.
Without mentioning Maduro or Russian President Vladimir Putin, Molano stressed that the exercises are taking place “within the scope of NATO.”
Colombia is the only Latin American country that is a strategic partner of NATO, the alliance of Western powers that is at the center of the world crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The message is very simple: Colombia is preparing itself more and more, our Navy is preparing itself more and more to guarantee our national sovereignty,” concluded Molano, accompanied by the commander of the Armed Forces, General Luis Fernando Navarro, and members of the Navy.
gs (afp, RCN, El Tiempo)