US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau spoke with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar today to ‘reaffirm’ the strength of its partnership with the country and acknowledge the government’s support for US operations in the Caribbean. 

This as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday bolstered military troops along the Venezuelan Coast, including the Sucre State- the region from which the 11 men killed in a lethal strike by the US last week are believed to have originated. 

The US exercise and ongoing military build-up in the Caribbean was supported by Persad-Bissessar, who last week said the US forces should kill all drug traffickers,‘violently.’