(Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday recent incidents between his country and the United States are an “aggression” by the U.S., not tensions between the two countries, and that there is no communication between the governments.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has ratcheted up U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean as part of what it says is a crackdown on drug smugglers.
This month, a U.S. military strike killed 11 people and sank a boat from Venezuela that the Trump administration claimed was transporting illegal narcotics.
The U.S. government is trying to justify the launch of a “criminal attack” on his country, Maduro said during a press conference attended by top military brass and other officials.
“This isn’t tension. It is an aggression all down the line, it’s a police aggression…a political aggression, a diplomatic aggression and an ongoing aggression of military character,” Maduro said.
Maduro, whose government has historically met with U.S. officials to negotiate everything from hostage releases to conditions for elections, had said this month that communications between the two governments were damaged.
But on Monday he said that was no longer the case.
“The communications with the government of the U.S. are thrown away, they are thrown away by them with their threats of bombs, death and blackmail,” Maduro said.
(Reporting by Reuters)
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