U.S. warship enters Panama Canal, heading toward Caribbean

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — A United States (US) guided missile cruiser, USS Lake Erie, was seen crossing the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean Friday night, after the Trump administration deployed warships near the coast of Venezuela.

Agence France-Presse journalists saw the naval vessel passing through one of the canal’s locks at around 9:30 p.m. and navigating east toward the Atlantic.

The Lake Erie, based in the port of San Diego, California, had been moored for the past two days at the Port of Rodman, at the canal’s Pacific entrance.

The US has said the deployment of warships to the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela’s territorial waters, was an anti-drug trafficking operation.

Washington has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel and has doubled the bounty for his capture to $50 million.

The US has, however, made no public threat to invade Venezuela.

Caracas announced on Monday the deployment of 15,000 security forces to the Colombian border for anti-drug trafficking operations.

A day later, Venezuela announced that it would patrol its territorial waters with drones and navy ships.

Maduro also claimed to have mobilized more than four million militia members in response to US “threats.”