Amid growing tensions with Venezuela, France has decided to join the United States in increasing its surveillance of the Caribbean by sending more ships to Guadeloupe, its overseas territory, according to an announcement by Manuel Valls, Minister for Overseas Territories.
The decision comes after US President Donald Trump reinforced the deployment of US military ships in waters near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking, particularly the activities of the Cartel de los Soles, a decision that has generated strong reactions both in Venezuela and in its neighboring countries.
Last week, Trinidad and Tobago expressed its support for the US naval operation, noting that organized crime and drug trafficking pose a direct threat to the security of the entire Caribbean. It even went so far as to say that it would lend its waters and territory to US operations against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro if Washington requested it in order to defend Guyana.
An international cooperation strategy
France, for its part, justified its naval reinforcement as part of an international cooperation strategy against criminal networks operating in the area, and stressed the need to protect its overseas territories, particularly Guadeloupe and Martinique, which are often used as transit points for drug trafficking to Europe.
In Caracas, the presence of foreign military ships in Caribbean waters is interpreted as additional pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s administration, which is already facing diplomatic challenges from both Washington and several European capitals. Last weekend, Maduro ordered the deployment of 4.5 million militiamen in response to the United States’ announcement that it would send warships to the Caribbean.
Washington toughened its strategy against organized crime in February this year by classifying several of Mexico’s most powerful cartels as terrorist organizations, including Jalisco Nueva Generación, del Noreste, Nueva Familia Michoacana, and del Golfo, as well as Mara Salvatrucha in El Salvador. Also on that list are El Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles, which the White House has identified as being under Maduro’s control.
Ecuador and Paraguay have also warned that the Cartel de los Soles operates as a criminal network with transnational reach, involved in drug trafficking routes, money laundering, and increased violence in different parts of the region.
