Venezuela is organizing military exercises aimed at protecting its coasts from possible "covert operations" approved by the administration of US President Donald Trump, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said, quoted by Agence France-Presse and BTA.
"We are developing coastal defense maneuvers. The exercises began 72 hours ago. The goal is to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats, but also from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations aimed at domestic political destabilization of the country," Padrino said.
Washington will deploy an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, officially to combat drug trafficking, which is a significant increase in US military resources in the region. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the actions on Friday as an attempt at a “new war”, AFP reported.
Since the beginning of last month, the US has been carrying out strikes, mainly in Caribbean waters, on vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
So far, about ten attacks have been recorded, in which at least 43 people have died, according to AFP data based on information from the US government.