Caribbean Plate 1843 in this region are possibly megathrust earthquakes. Along the geologically complex southern boundary, the Caribbean Plate interacts with the South American Plate forming Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago (all on the Caribbean Plate), and islands off the coast of Venezuela (including the Leeward Antilles) and Colombia. This boundary is in part the result of transform faulting along with thrust faulting and some subduction. The rich Venezuelan petroleum fields possibly result from this complex plate interaction. The Caribbean plate is moving eastward about 22 millimeters per year in relation to the South American plate. In Venezuela much of the movement between
German interest in the Caribbean considered building a coaling station in the Caribbean, and proposed to purchase the island of Curaçao from the Netherlands. However Chancellor Bismarck was strongly opposed; he wanted to avoid difficulties with the U.S. and nothing happened. Bismarck was ousted from power in 1890 and German naval strategists again turned their attention to the Caribbean but failed to establish a naval base at Margarita Island (Venezuela). In the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903 the United Kingdom and Germany sent warships to blockade Venezuela after it defaulted on its foreign loan repayments. Germany intended to land troops and occupy Venezuelan ports, but U.S.