Venezuela faces biggest threat in 100 years due to US Navy, says Venezuelan president

The United States is seeking a regime change in his country with a naval deployment in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in a press conference, Reuters writes.

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 said. “Venezuela is confronting the biggest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years.”

His country is peaceful, Maduro added, but will not bow to threats. Venezuela’s military is “super prepared,” he said. Venezuela’s government has scoffed at U.S. assertions that the country and its leadership are key to major international drug trafficking.