Maduro may be a big bluff, but Guyana’s friends and allies have just proven that they are not all fluff and no stuff. The US, along with the UK and Netherlands sent a strong message of deterrence to Venezuela by conducting military exercises in the Caribbean Sea on the 3rd of March, 2025. The exercises come just two days after Venezuela “tested the waters” by sending a military vessel into Guyana’s waters to issue “warnings” to EXXONMOBIL FPSOs.
The Maduro Regime has already redrawn the country’s map to include the disputed Essequibo Region, threatened to use military force to occupy it, and is now planning to elect a governor of the Essequibo territory which they have included as part of Venezuela’s 24th state “Guayana Esequiba.” In recent ramblings, dictator Nicolas Maduro threatened the use of military force and called President Ali the “Zelensky of the Caribbean.” Read More: Venezuela is not Russia, Nor is Guyana Ukraine.
The United States, UK, and other powerful nations have issued strong statements in support of Guyana, and stern warnings against Venezuela.
Amid tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the disputed Essequibo region, the navies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands conducted joint exercises in the Caribbean Sea. These maneuvers included the deployment of guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, offshore patrol vessels, and embarked aircraft from the previously mentioned forces.
According to official reports, the activities carried out by the three naval forces in the region were part of PASSEX exercises, which took place on March 3 and involved surface assets and embarked aircraft.
The U.S. Navy participated with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG-60) and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116), which performed navigation and cross-deck maneuvers with the Royal Navy’s River-class patrol vessel HMS Medway (P223) and an NH-90 Neptune helicopter from the Royal Netherlands Navy, which was embarked on the patrol vessel HNLMS Groningen (P843).
“The trilateral PASSEX maritime exercise is part of the collaboration between the United States and its allies in the Western Hemisphere. Adopted in 2023, allies and partners from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United States committed to sharing information more frequently and working more closely on common strategic interests, specifically within the U.S. Southern Command’s Area of Responsibility (AOR),” stated the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command.
They further added: “The collaboration includes maritime operations and exercises at sea, as well as port visits within the framework of Theater Security Cooperation (TSC), designed to fulfill this commitment.”
