(Caracas) Venezuela claims to have dismantled a CIA-funded spies that plotted a false flag operation to frame the USS Gravely, a U.S. destroyer deployed in the southern Caribbean, in an attempt to instigate a full-blown military conflict between Venezuela and the U.S.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Cabello said on Monday (October 27) that at least four suspects with direct ties to the CIA had been arrested, but provided no further details.
The USS Gravely docked in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, on Sunday for a four-day visit to participate in joint military exercises. This has drawn criticism from Venezuela, which accuses the exercises of dangerous provocation aimed at igniting war in the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago borders Venezuela, with the closest point between the two countries being only 11 kilometers apart.
U.S. President Trump recently confirmed that he has authorized CIA operations in Venezuela and is considering a ground attack on the country.
The United States has deployed seven warships in the Caribbean Sea under the pretext of drug interdiction, and two B-1B bombers also flew over the Caribbean on Monday, marking the third such show of force by the US in recent weeks.
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Since September, the Trump administration has claimed to have sunk 10 drug-smuggling ships and killed more than 40 drug traffickers in international waters off Venezuela and in the eastern Pacific.
Venezuela and some observers believe that the Trump administration is using military deployments to pressure the Venezuelan government in an attempt to overthrow Venezuelan President Maduro.
On Monday evening, Maduro announced the suspension of the gas deal with Trinidad and Tobago, accusing Trinidadian Prime Minister Bissesar of turning the country into an aircraft carrier for the American empire to use against Venezuela.
Bissesar told domestic media that they do not need Venezuelan natural gas and that the government has an economic development plan covering both energy and non-energy sectors.
