The U.S. Navy reported Tuesday that it launched four intercontinental-range ballistic missiles last week from waters off the east coast of Florida as a test, an apparent show of military muscle that comes at a time marked by Washington’s military deployment in the Caribbean that has heightened tensions with Venezuela.
Although it is common for the U.S. Army to report its missile tests after the fact and the Navy stressed in a statement today that these tests “were not conducted in response to any international event,” the text mentions that one of the fourth launches, the one conducted last Sunday, “lit up the night sky and was visible from Puerto Rico.”
U.S. tests Trident II missiles
The explicit reference to Puerto Rico, which is located some 700 kilometers off the coast of Venezuela, does not seem coincidental.
This is considering that the test launches were conducted in a quadrant off the east coast of Florida.
Very distant from the Free Associated Territory, some 1,500 kilometers away.
The projectiles, which were launched from an Ohio-class submarine between September 17 and 21, are of the Trident II D5 type.
A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads and with an estimated range of 12,000 kilometers.
F-35B ships and fighters deployed in the Caribbean
In order to combat drug trafficking from the Venezuelan coast, the U.S. has deployed at least eight ships in the Caribbean since August.
These include destroyers and amphibious assault and transport ships.
And also a nuclear-powered submarine, although it is a Los Angeles-class submersible, without the capability to launch atomic weapons.
In turn, it has sent several state-of-the-art F-35B fighters to Puerto Rico.
Destabilization attempt denounced
While Washington has reported that it has destroyed four narco-boats from Venezuela in recent weeks, analysts consider that such a military deployment is excessive to stop such vessels on a route that drug traffickers do not usually exploit on a large scale.
The operation has drawn harsh condemnation from Venezuela, which has accused the White House of trying to force the fall of the government of Nicolás Maduro.
With information from EFE
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