The US Embassy in Port of Spain announced on Monday that United States Chief of Staff Dan Keane will visit Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday (11/25/2025) to discuss drug trafficking amid military deployment in Caribbean waters.
The diplomatic mission indicated in a statement that Kane’s visit will focus “on the strong bilateral relations between the two countries and the promotion of regional stability and territorial unity around the vital importance of combating illicit trafficking and transnational criminal organizations.”
Cain is visiting Puerto Rico and one of the warships that Washington maintains in the Caribbean as part of its campaign against drug trafficking.
Trinidad and Tobago conducted joint military exercises with the United States last month as part of the anti-drug operation that Washington is directing in particular against Venezuela.
This is the second time that Kane, the country’s highest-ranking military officer and one of the architects of Operation Southern Lance against drug trafficking in Caribbean waters, has traveled to the island since the beginning of the attacks on alleged drug boats in September, which killed more than 80 people.
Operation Lanza del Sur also includes Marines aboard amphibious ships and about 5,000 soldiers at bases in the Puerto Rican nation, which the United States recognizes as a member of the commonwealth.
Rumors increase tension
Speculation about impending military operations grew over the weekend after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an international warning urging “extreme caution” when flying over that country and the southern Caribbean.
Trinidad and Tobago, near the coast of Venezuela, is hosting military exercises this week conducted by the US Navy, a country it is supporting in its current deployment in the Caribbean against Venezuela.
Persad-Bissessar defended last week’s maneuvers on social media, although he noted that “the territory of Trinidad and Tobago will not be used to launch any attack against the people of Venezuela.”
However, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago had “mortgaged” her country by “threatening Venezuela.”
P (efe, AFP)