Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, Nov 12, (dpa/GNA) – German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, has called for a de-escalation of the crisis between the US and Venezuela.
“We believe that the United States of America and Venezuela must resolve the issue bilaterally,” he said on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake in south-eastern Canada.
“We are confident that this will succeed, because no one has any interest in further crises arising,” Wadephul added. However, this also means “that it must now be clear to Venezuela that it must show restraint too.”
The Venezuelan government has called up almost 200,000 troops for a two-day manoeuvre, in response to the increasing US military presence in the Caribbean.
The background to this decision is the massive deployment of US armed forces, which President Donald Trump’s government justifies, as part of the fight against drug smuggling from Latin America to the US.
The US has been repeatedly attacking boats, allegedly loaded with drugs in the Caribbean and elsewhere, killing dozens of people in the process.
Recently, the world’s largest aircraft carrier also arrived in the US Southern Command’s area of operations. This extends across the Caribbean and also, across waters bordering Central and South America.
GNA