Venezuela condemns ‘military provocation’ by CIA and Trinidad and Tobago

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(Reuters) -Venezuela on Sunday condemned what it said was a military provocation by neighboring Trinidad and Tobago in coordination with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, aimed at spurring a full military confrontation with the Latin American nation.

Joint military exercises between the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago are currently underway in the Caribbean and Venezuela said it had captured a group of mercenaries “with direct information of the American intelligence agency” and whose goal it was to carry out a false-flag attack in the region.

A false flag attack is an operation when an act is carried out in such a way that a different party appears responsible.

“A false flag attack is underway in waters bordering Trinidad and Tobago or from Trinidadian or Venezuelan territory to generate a full military confrontation with our country,” Venezuela’s government said in the statement.

The statement, issued by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, did not offer further details or evidence of the false flag attack accusations.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed reports that he authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has levied accusations of false flag attacks before, including a plan to plant explosives in the U.S. embassy in Caracas in early October.

The U.S. State Department and the CIA were not immediately available for comment.

Trump has carried out a number of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that the administration claims are trafficking drugs. The Pentagon escalated its military build-up in the Caribbean this Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Lincoln Feast)