Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – In a move that has sent ripples of unease across the Caribbean, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) docked at the Port of Spain on Sunday, October 26, 2025, marking a visible escalation in the Trump administration's multifaceted pressure campaign against Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro. The arrival of the Arleigh Burke-class warship, commissioned in 2010 and capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles and hosting advanced radar systems for air and missile defense, comes just days after the Pentagon redirected the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group from the Mediterranean to waters off South America. This deployment, announced on October 24, bolsters an already formidable U.S. naval presence in the region, now comprising over 6,000 sailors and Marines across eight warships, with the Ford's arrival potentially adding another 4,500 personnel and up to 90 aircraft.
The USS Gravely's visit, scheduled to last until Thursday, October 30, is officially framed as a routine port call for joint training exercises with the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF). According to a statement from Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, the exercises will focus on "expert exchanges in core infantry tactics, maintenance procedures, and advanced medical capabilities," leveraging local facilities to enhance "tactical proficiency and mutual trust." The 22nd U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit, comprising more than 2,000 Marines, is aboard the destroyer, underscoring the scale of the operation. U.S. officials emphasized that these activities highlight Washington's "commitment to regional security and cooperative efforts in the Caribbean," particularly in countering transnational threats like drug trafficking and human smuggling.
Yet, beneath the diplomatic veneer, the timing and context of the docking have ignited fierce condemnation from Caracas. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose regime has weathered years of U.S. sanctions and isolation, lambasted the deployment as an attempt by the United States to "fabricate a new eternal war" against his socialist government. In a fiery address broadcast on state television late Sunday, Maduro accused the Trump administration of reviving Cold War-era tactics to destabilize Latin America, drawing parallels to the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. "The empire thinks it can sail its iron monsters to our doorstep and dictate our fate," Maduro declared, flanked by uniformed officers of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. "We will not kneel; Venezuela's sovereignty is non-negotiable."
The Venezuelan government's outrage deepened with a formal statement from Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who described the USS Gravely's presence as a "hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to Caribbean peace." In a bold accusation, Caracas claimed its security forces had recently captured a "group of mercenaries" with "direct information from the U.S. intelligence agency, the CIA," allegedly plotting a false-flag operation. According to the communiqué, these operatives were poised to stage an attack from "waters bordering Trinidad and Tobago, or from Trinidadian or Venezuelan territory itself," designed to manufacture a pretext for broader U.S. military intervention. "This is not mere exercises; it is the prelude to aggression," Rodríguez asserted, though no evidence—such as names, nationalities, or seized documents—was publicly presented to substantiate the claims. Venezuelan authorities have a history of such allegations, including thwarted plots involving alleged CIA-backed saboteurs, but independent verification remains elusive amid the country's restricted media environment.
This latest salvo fits into a broader pattern of heightened rhetoric and military posturing that has defined U.S.-Venezuela relations since President Donald Trump's return to the White House earlier this year. The Trump administration, resuming its hardline stance from the first term, has intensified a "maximum pressure" strategy aimed at ousting Maduro, whom it labels a "narco-terrorist" and illegitimate ruler following the disputed 2024 elections. On October 15, Trump publicly confirmed authorizing the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela, a revelation first reported by The New York Times. These operations, sources say, could include lethal actions against Maduro's inner circle or support for dissident elements within the Venezuelan military. The U.S. has also upped the bounty on Maduro's arrest to $50 million on drug trafficking charges, tying him to shadowy networks like the Cartel de los Soles and the transnational gang Tren de Aragua, designated as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2025.
Complementing the intelligence push, the U.S. military has executed at least seven strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean since September, killing over 30 individuals in what the Pentagon describes as precision operations against "narco-terrorists." The most recent, a nighttime missile hit on October 24, targeted a speedboat allegedly linked to Tren de Aragua, scattering packages of contraband into the sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hailed the action on social media as a blow to "illicit actors compromising U.S. safety." Critics, including human rights groups like Amnesty International, have decried the strikes as extrajudicial killings, pointing to cases like that of Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian fisherman whose family insists he was an innocent victim, not a trafficker.
The USS Gerald R. Ford's repositioning—ordered under Title 10 authorities for national security—further amplifies these efforts. The supercarrier, the largest warship ever built at 1,106 feet long and displacing 100,000 tons, is en route with five destroyers, a cruiser, and squadrons of F-35 jets and B-52 bombers that conducted flyovers near Venezuelan airspace last week. Analysts like Elliott Abrams, Trump's former Venezuela envoy, describe this as a "pressure campaign to rattle the regime," not a full invasion force but sufficient for targeted Tomahawk strikes on cocaine labs or military sites. "It's enough to cause pain without seizing terrain," noted Peter Singer, a defense strategist at New America. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has voiced concerns, claiming one strike inadvertently killed an innocent fisherman and accusing Washington of overreach.
In Trinidad and Tobago, a nation of 1.4 million squeezed between Venezuela's mainland and the open Atlantic, the warship's arrival has elicited a mix of support and trepidation. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, a vocal ally of U.S. counter-drug initiatives, defended the exercises as essential for national security. "Safety is priority number one," she stated, citing Trinidad's proximity to trafficking routes that fuel local gun violence and homicides—over 400 murders reported in 2025 alone. Persad-Bissessar highlighted potential benefits, including U.S. assistance in upgrading military bases and humanitarian aid via Marine engineers. The government has even granted U.S. forces "unflinching access" to its territory in the event of Venezuelan aggression toward Guyana, a border dispute ally.
Opposition voices, however, decry the move as reckless. David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice, warned that anchoring a warship "just miles off Venezuela" invites catastrophe. "This is not our fight; we're turning our home into a launchpad for empire," he said during a rally in Woodbrook. Local fishermen, still mourning two nationals killed in a U.S. strike last month, echoed fears of collateral damage. The Port of Spain Authority has already disrupted container operations on key berths to accommodate the Gravely, irking exporters amid economic strains from global shipping delays.
Regionally, the Caribbean Community (Caricom)—a 15-nation bloc including Trinidad—has urged de-escalation and dialogue, emphasizing the area as a "zone of peace." Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed alarm at the "menacing military" buildup during her party's conference, warning of spillover risks to small island economies. China, a key Venezuelan oil buyer, has condemned the deployments as "foreign interference," while Russia—Maduro's staunch backer—mobilized 4.5 million militia members in solidarity drills. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a hawk on Latin America, dismissed the outcry, tweeting that Maduro's "days are numbered" and praising Trinidad's cooperation.
As the USS Gravely's crew—over 300 strong—prepares for drills simulating amphibious assaults and anti-submarine warfare, the Caribbean teeters on a knife's edge. Will this port call catalyze defections in Maduro's ranks, as U.S. officials hope, or provoke a defiant response from Caracas? With the Ford steaming closer, the answers may unfold in the coming days, but one thing is clear: the ghosts of past interventions haunt these azure waters, where superpowers' gambits could upend lives from Caracas to Chaguanas.
