China’s official military newspaper has accused the United States of “gunboat diplomacy” amid rising tensions with Venezuela.
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The Pentagon announced on Sunday that a strike group including the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, had been deployed to the Caribbean, carrying thousands of service personnel and dozens of aircraft.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had not ruled out sending troops to Venezuela, while also expressing a willingness to engage in dialogue with the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro.
The US has been increasing its military presence in the Caribbean since August. It has already deployed eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and F-35 fighter jets to the region, and has been bombing ships allegedly carrying drugs from the coastlines of Venezuela and other countries.
Some human rights organisations have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings, but the White House has said it is at war with drug cartels and does not need to go through the courts.
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A commentary published in PLA Daily on Tuesday accused Washington of trying “to use military deterrence to promote regime change and plunder Venezuela’s energy resources”.