Colombia and the United States conduct military exercises in a tense global environment The Most Important News and Analysis of Latin America | D.W.

According to a report released on Monday (02/28/2022), Colombia and the United States have announced the launch of military exercises in the Caribbean, including the first-ever nuclear submarine, amid tensions with Russia’s ally Venezuela in the region. ).

The Colombian defense ministry said in a statement that the maneuvers were aimed at strengthening the fight against drug trafficking and safeguarding “national sovereignty”.

“Today the Colombian Navy and the US Navy are launching exercises to operate in the Colombian Caribbean,” Diego Molano, head of the portfolio, said in a video sent to the media and recorded the previous day.

For his part, Venezuelan Defense Minister General Vladimir Patrino rejected the Colombian-US exercises as “scheduled” and called them “imperial luxury” in a message on Twitter.

Molano stressed that the move “strengthens the mutual trust that the United States has in that alliance with Colombia,” which has sparked decades of close relations between the two countries.

Bogota weeks ago questioned an alleged attempt by Russia to intervene on the Colombian-Venezuelan border through support for Venezuelan troops and military advice. The Moscow embassy denied the allegations.

Minister Molano did not elaborate on how long the rehearsal maneuvers in the Caribbean would last and the number of US troops involved.

Without mentioning Maduro or Russian President Vladimir Putin, Molano stressed that the exercises were taking place “within NATO’s borders.”

Colombia is the only Latin American country to be a strategic partner of NATO, a coalition of Western powers at the center of the global crisis as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The message is simple: Colombia is preparing itself more and more, and our navy is preparing itself more and more to guarantee our national sovereignty,” concluded Molano, along with Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces General Luis Fernando Navarro and members. Navy.

gs (afp, RCN, El Tiempo)