Off the coast of Venezuela is exactly the distraction Trump needs

A naval skirmish in the Caribbean could, writes Kim Sengupta, helpfully distract from the president's mishandling of coronavirus

President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House on 1 April 2020. (Reuters)

It was the first decisive naval skirmish in the Caribbean for 75 years, a furious salvo from guns, then a violent ramming of hulls, leaving one of the duelling vessels sinking into the seabed.

The exchange took place between the Naiguata, a Venezuelan Navy patrol boat, and the Resolute, a Portuguese-flagged cruiseliner near the island of Tortuga. The patrol boat had opened fire with its 76mm gun, but then came off worse in the collision with the liner which has been strengthened to act as an ice-breaker for adventure tourism.

The crew of the Naiguta were rescued. The Venezuelan government claimed that the Resolute had to be intercepted because it was intent on carrying out “acts of aggression and piracy” – preparing to land armed mercenaries on the coast. The evidence produced for this were photographs of six black each capable of carrying seven commandos, enough to carry out sabotage attacks.