fishermen from the archipelago of Trinidad and Tobago fear getting caught up in the tumult. Between Venezuelan military preparations in response to muscular US "provocation" on the one hand, and Trinidad-backed American strikes on alleged drug boats on the other, people who normally ply their trade in the sea told AFP they are keeping a low profile. In Cedros, a village in the extreme southwest of the island of Trinidad, a group of them chatted in hammocks on the beach, their boats unusually idle.

The fishers eyed the Venezuelan coast, about a dozen kilometers (seven miles) away, as they discussed their dilemma. Barefoot and dressed in shorts, Kendrick Moodee told AFP he and his comrades were taking "a little more caution," with the Venezuelan coast guard "a bit tense" these days. There has been closer policing, the 58-year-old said, of fishing in Venezuelan territorial waters where boats from Trinidad and Tobago were previously left to operate undisturbed. Several Cedros fishermen said Venezuelan patrols have been violently repelling Trinidadian vessels, and beatings and extortion have increased. Their territory curtailed, the fishermen have seen their yields and income dwindle.

US strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed at least 62 people on boats Washington claims were ferrying drugs in recent weeks. Family members and victims' governments have said some of them were fishermen at sea. (Bssnews)