Panama City — A US Navy guided-missile cruiser transited the Panama Canal late Friday, moving from the Pacific into the Caribbean as Washington intensifies pressure on the Venezuelan government.
The vessel, identified as the USS Lake Erie, was spotted entering the canal’s locks around 9:30 p.m. local time before heading east toward the Atlantic. The cruiser had been docked for two days at the Port of Rodman, near the canal’s Pacific entrance, before its overnight passage.
US officials have linked the movement of naval assets in the region to ongoing anti-drug trafficking operations. The deployment, however, comes against the backdrop of heightened confrontation between Washington and Caracas. The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of running a “narco-state” and recently increased the bounty for his capture to $50 million.
In response, Caracas has mobilized security forces and militia units. Earlier this week, Venezuela announced the dispatch of 15,000 troops to the Colombian border, the rollout of naval patrols supported by drones, and the activation of millions of militia members as a deterrent to perceived foreign aggression.
“I didn’t expect to see it—it was a surprise,” said Alfredo Cedeno, a 32-year-old health technician who photographed the Lake Erie as it crossed the locks.
The USS Lake Erie is a 567-foot Ticonderoga-class cruiser with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons. It is homeported in San Diego, California, and designed for air defense, surface warfare, and missile operations.
Despite the visible buildup of forces, the United States has not issued any explicit threat of military intervention in Venezuela. The warship’s transit underscores the fragile balance in the Caribbean basin, where the lines between counternarcotics enforcement and geopolitical muscle-flexing continue to blur.
