Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are spilling over to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago is a small country with an area only about half the size of Gyeonggi Province, but it sits in a militarily important position because the nearest point on its coastline is just 11 kilometers from Venezuela.
On the 16th, the New York Times (NYT) reported in a story headlined "As the U.S. threatens Nicolás Maduro, one Caribbean nation is caught in the crossfire" that "a few days after the top U.S. military officer visited, an attempt to bring military equipment into Trinidad and Tobago sparked controversy."
At the end of last month, after a visit by Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Trinidad and Tobago installed a ground/air defense tactical radar (G/ATOR) in Crown Point, a coastal area. At the time, Trinidad and Tobago not only allowed the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Gravely to dock, but also held military exercises with U.S. forces.
The Trinidad and Tobago government initially claimed that the purpose of installing the U.S. military radar was to crack down on drug trafficking. U.S. Southern Command also said it installed the radar with the permission of the Trinidad and Tobago government, adding that the equipment "will be used to help U.S. forces deployed in the Caribbean block illegal drug transaction and protect the U.S. mainland."
However, according to the website of Northrop Grumman, the defense contractor that manufactures the G/ATOR radar, the system is a military asset used to detect aerial threats such as aircraft and missiles. With a single scan, G/ATOR provides the data needed to intercept and destroy a range of aerial threats, including cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, ballistic missiles, crewed aircraft, and drones.
Mark F. Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, said the radar "doesn't help with drug crackdowns targeting ships but can detect sorties by Venezuelan aircraft," and noted it could also contribute to setting the direction of a U.S. attack.
Trinidad and Tobago's closer alignment with the United States has become more pronounced recently. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago said in a news release on the 15th that "within the next few weeks, U.S. forces will be allowed to access our airports," adding, "U.S. forces will conduct logistics-focused activities to facilitate resupply and routine troop rotations."
Venezuela pushed back immediately. Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's vice president and oil minister, said the same day that "Trinidad and Tobago has been complicit in the theft of Venezuelan oil," criticizing that it "is turning itself into an aircraft carrier of the American empire against Venezuela." Earlier, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of Venezuela also claimed that "including the installation of a U.S. military radar, Trinidad and Tobago is pursuing a hostile policy toward Venezuela."
Observers see the background of Trinidad and Tobago's cooperation with the United States, despite backlash from its neighbor, in a natural gas field development project. Trinidad and Tobago is pushing to develop the Dragon gas field located in Venezuelan waters, but progress has been slow for years due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.
Brian Fonseca, director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University, said Trinidad and Tobago's permission for the U.S. military to install the radar is a step that strengthens military cooperation between the two countries, evaluating that "this decision provides an important basis of goodwill that the Trinidad and Tobago government can use in future negotiations with Washington."