US Guided-Missile Cruiser USS Lake Erie Transits Panama Canal Amid Heightened Venezuela Tensions

A U.S. guided-missile cruiser, the USS Lake Erie, was observed transiting the Panama Canal on Friday night, moving from the Pacific to the Caribbean. This strategic movement follows the Trump administration’s recent deployment of warships near Venezuela’s coast, primarily for anti-drug trafficking operations.

AFP journalists witnessed the naval vessel passing through one of the canal’s locks around 9:30 pm on August 29, navigating eastward toward the Atlantic. The Lake Erie had been recently moored at the Port of Rodman, at the Pacific entrance of the canal, for two days prior to its transit.

Washington maintains that its naval deployment to the southern Caribbean, close to Venezuelan territorial waters, is part of an intensified anti-drug trafficking initiative. This comes amidst U.S. accusations that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro leads a drug cartel, with a doubled bounty of $50 million for his capture. Despite the increased military presence, the U.S. has not publicly threatened an invasion of Venezuela.

In response to the U.S. maneuvers, Caracas has announced its own defensive measures. Earlier this week, Venezuela deployed 15,000 security forces to its Colombian border for anti-drug trafficking operations and subsequently declared it would patrol its territorial waters with drones and navy ships. President Maduro also claimed to have mobilized over four million militia members, decrying what he termed “outlandish threats” from the United States.

The Trump administration’s broader policy in Latin America has seen a focus on designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations, with a directive for the Pentagon to potentially use military force against them. Mexico, however, has firmly stated it would not accept U.S. military presence on its territory.

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