The USS Gravely’s arrival comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas due to the buildup of U.S. forces in the region.
Published October 26, 2025
A US warship has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation near Venezuela, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas.
The guided missile destroyer USS Gravely arrived in Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain on Sunday, carrying members of the U.S. Marine Corps ahead of a scheduled joint military exercise.
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This warship is equipped with advanced weapons systems and can operate helicopters. Recent activities include deployment to counter-narcotics operations.
The ship’s arrival near Venezuela comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump continues to strengthen the US military presence in the Caribbean, where in recent weeks it has carried out controversial and deadly attacks on boats that Washington says are involved in drug trafficking.
The standoff between the two countries further escalated Friday when the Pentagon confirmed it was sending the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was re-elected last year despite what the United States denied as a fraudulent election, accused the United States of “manufacturing” a war against him.
Without providing any evidence, the US president accused Maduro of being the leader of the organized crime group Torren de Aragua.
Al Jazeera’s Julia Gagliano, reporting from Port of Spain on Sunday, said the Trinidad government wanted to reassure its people there was no need to worry about the warship’s arrival.
The country’s defense minister told Al Jazeera on Saturday that joint military operations take place regularly and the presence of US ships is not a precursor to war.
But Gagliano said local residents have expressed “considerable concerns” about the warship.
“People I spoke to today, for example at the Sunday market, said they were scared of what this meant for the country,” she said.
Trinidadians interviewed by the news agency expressed similar concerns.
“If something happens to Venezuela and the United States, those of us who live on the outskirts of Venezuela could be punished at any moment,” Daniel Holder, 64, told AFP news agency.
“I am against my country participating in this,” he added.
Javed Ali, an associate professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in national security, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that US actions in the region included a “substantial injection of military force” to put pressure on Maduro’s regime.
“It’s very difficult to know what the White House is thinking,” he said, adding that the U.S. military presence is not large enough to launch an invasion of Venezuela.
“If you think about how the United States has fought wars in the past, it’s not going to be a small war,” Ali said.
As part of its anti-drug operation, Washington sent eight naval ships, 10 F-35 fighter jets and a nuclear-powered submarine to the region in August, marking the region’s largest military buildup since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
On Saturday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said the country had begun coastal defense exercises to protect itself from a “massive military threat.”
