(CMC)—Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Monday urged the United States to settle its differences with Venezuela ”through diplomacy and dialogue,” reiterating that the Caribbean region should be a zone of peace.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said he had made up his mind on a course of action in Venezuela following multiple high-level briefings and a mounting US show of force in the region that includes the presence of the US’s largest carrier, the USS Gerald Forde.
“I sort of have made up my mind — yeah. I mean, I can’t tell you what it would be, but I sort of have,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
But in a message posted on his Facebook page on Monday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne wrote, “We encourage President Trump to resolve the differences between the US and Venezuela, through diplomacy and dialogue.
“Let’s continue to preserve our hemisphere as a zone of peace,” he added.
Last month, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders issued a statement in which they said they “met and discussed various issues on the regional agenda, including the increased security build-up in the Caribbean and the potential impacts on member states”.
The statement said that “save in respect of Trinidad and Tobago who reserved its position,” the leaders reaffirmed the principle of maintaining the Caribbean Region as a Zone of Peace and the importance of dialogue and engagement towards the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflict. Caricom remains willing to assist towards that objective”.
In September, Caricom foreign ministers sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the United States to provide an assurance that any military action aimed at Venezuela will not threaten regional stability or occur without prior consultation and warning.
The United States ordered an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of President Trump’s effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who has openly supported Washington’s war on drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean, said she had “no sympathy for traffickers” and that the US military should “kill them all violently.
A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser have also been allocated to the US Southern Command as part of the mission.
Venezuela has since responded to what it termed the threat posed by the United States and has itself marshalled its troops along its borders.
