Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the United States on Monday of plotting regime change with a naval buildup in the Caribbean, warning of a direct threat to his government.
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border.
But Maduro, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and other officials have said the U.S. is threatening their country and the buildup is meant to justify an intervention against them.
"They are seeking a regime change through military threat," Maduro told journalists, officials and uniformed military brass in Caracas, echoing comments last week by his government's representative at the United Nations.
