US troops train in Panama jungle

PANAMA, Oct 23 (AFP): The US military carried out small-scale survival and jungle combat drills on Panama's Caribbean coast Wednesday, as Washington amassed a vast naval presence off Venezuela.
Under a scorching sun, about a dozen US Marines armed with assault rifles simulated storming a bunker at the former US Fort Sherman base near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.
The facilities now serve as a training ground for US Marines and Panamanian police under a cooperation program launched in August.
Panama said about 50 US Marines would train from October 9 to 29 in its jungle to improve their skills "in one of the most demanding environments."
"This training is purely aimed at our defense and protection" to fight "organized crime and drug trafficking," Panamanian Major Didier Santamaria told AFP.
A similar course in August "focused only on survival; this one adds some tactics and jungle tracking," said US Colonel Ada Cotto.
Venezuela has 5,000
Russian anti-aircraft
missiles to counter US
President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that Venezuela has 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces deployed in the Caribbean.
Washington has deployed stealth warplanes and Navy ships in the Caribbean as part of what it calls counter-narcotics efforts, and destroyed at least eight vessels it said were smuggling drugs from Venezuela toward the United States.