A massive US warship enters the Panama Canal heading to the Caribbean
The USS Lake Erie, a guided-missile cruiser, enter the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean toward the Caribbean on Friday evening, amid three US warships deployed off the coast of Venezuela.
The US warship passing through the canal from the Pacific Ocean at around 9:30 pm local time (02:30 GMT Saturday) and heading east toward the Atlantic Ocean.
The ship, which bears the number 70 painted in black on its hull, has remained docked for the past two days at Rodman Harbor, at the Pacific entrance to the canal.
The United States announced the dispatch of several warships to the Caribbean with the stated aim of combating international drug trafficking.
Last week, Washington revealed the deployment of three Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers off the coast of Venezuela.
On Tuesday, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US president had also decided to send the missile cruiser Lake Erie and the nuclear-powered attack submarine Newport.
In response, Venezuela announced the dispatch of naval vessels and patrol drones into its territorial waters.
Washington and Caracas have been at odds for years, as the US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, whose re-election in July 2024 wasn’t recognized by the United States under former President Joe Biden.
In early August, the Trump administration doubled its reward to $50 million for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, whom it accuses of running a terrorist drug cartel.
