Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Caracas, August 27 - The Permanent Mission of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United Nations condemned this Tuesday the escalation of hostile actions and threats from the U.S. government, which now include the deployment of vessels such as the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Newport News in the Caribbean region.
Venezuela described this presence as an act of intimidation that contravenes both the letter and the spirit of the United Nations Charter, which obliges states to refrain from threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any nation.
Among the new ships to be deployed in the area are the USS Lake Erie, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, according to two informed sources familiar with Washington’s recent movements, cited by Reuters news agency.
This information comes after, on August 19, the Trump administration ordered the deployment of three destroyers, carrying approximately 4,500 personnel—including 2,200 Marines—into waters near Venezuela’s coast.
Caracas reminded that Latin America and the Caribbean have been declared a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone under the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco, whose Protocol II was ratified by the United States in 1971, “committing to fully respect the region’s denuclearized status and to refrain from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against the treaty’s signatory states.”
In this regard, the statement warns that “the entry of a nuclear submarine into the region, without transparency regarding its payload or rules of engagement, undermines the object and purpose of this legally binding instrument and erodes collective confidence in the regional denuclearization regime.”
The Tlatelolco Treaty (1967), officially known as the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, was signed in Mexico City on February 14, 1967, establishing Latin America and the Caribbean as the first densely populated region to be designated a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
Signatory countries committed to using nuclear energy for the benefit of humanity and to promoting nuclear disarmament, renouncing testing, use, manufacture, possession, or control of any nuclear weapons.
“The presence of an offensive nuclear submarine in Latin America and the Caribbean contradicts our nations’ and peoples’ longstanding commitments to disarmament and to resolving disputes peacefully, and constitutes a clear act of intimidation that violates both the letter and the spirit of the United Nations Charter,” stated Venezuela’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
Venezuela’s mission also recalled the 2014 Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and recognized by the United Nations.
Signed by CELAC heads of state and government in Havana in January 2014, the proclamation aims to establish the region as a space where differences are resolved peacefully, with a firm rejection of force and threats, reaffirming principles such as sovereignty and non-intervention in internal affairs.
Venezuela, a party to both the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), made an urgent call to preserve regional peace, security, and stability.
The statement from Venezuela’s Permanent Mission to the UN demands an immediate halt to U.S. military deployments in the Caribbean, including the nuclear submarine USS Newport News, and calls for clear, verifiable guarantees that the United States will not deploy or threaten to use nuclear weapons in the region.
Furthermore, it urges all UN member states “to support respect for Latin America and the Caribbean’s denuclearized status and to uphold CELAC’s declaration of the region as a zone of peace.”
In this context, sources from Caracas reported that Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced on Tuesday that drone and naval patrols are underway in their territorial waters, at a time when the United States also announced a military deployment in southern Caribbean purportedly for a counter-narcotics operation.
“We will conduct significant drone patrols with various missions, including citizen security points, exploration and surveillance points, and river crossings with Marine infantry,” Padrino stated in a social media video.
“He also mentioned naval patrols on Lake Maracaibo, naval patrols in the Gulf of Venezuela, and larger vessels farther north in our territorial waters,” he added.
Padrino López explained that this security reinforcement, which began in January of this year, is in response to the activation of a binational development and peace zone between Venezuela and Colombia.
“This is a rapid deployment plan, given that we know the territory, the geographic conditions, and the characteristics of terrorist, armed, and drug trafficking groups operating along the border and attempting to move into Venezuelan territory,” he stated.
He also mentioned plans for aerial deployments, including helicopters, as well as surveillance, intelligence, and exploration assets.
The Venezuelan Defense Minister indicated that about 15,000 troops will be deployed along 851 kilometers of the country’s 2,219-kilometer-long border with Colombia.
On Saturday, Padrino López denied reports of armed Colombian guerrilla camps within Venezuela, following accusations by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Director Terry Cole that Caracas was collaborating with Colombian guerrillas in alleged drug trafficking operations.
Trump’s Shift from Defense to War
This Monday, President Donald Trump suggested that he might rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, asserting that the country’s greatest military victories occurred under that title.
“You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we should change the name,” Trump said during a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
“We won World War I, World War II, and it was called the Department of War. And to me, that’s really what it is. Defense is part of that,” he added, indicating the change could happen as soon as next week.
The Department of War was the official name of the U.S. military department until 1947, when it was restructured and renamed the Department of Defense as part of a more diplomatic approach during the Cold War.
In 2025, the Department of Defense received a budget of $841.3 billion from Congress, representing about 11% of total federal spending.
The idea to restore the Department of War was first mentioned in this administration in March, when then-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth brought up the topic, though no details were provided about whether such a change would involve structural reforms within the Pentagon. (Source and photo: Cubadebate)
