Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced what he described as "coups orchestrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)", hours after US President Donald Trump said he was considering strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels inside Venezuelan territory.
Addressing the National Council for Sovereignty and Peace, a body created after Washington deployed warships in the Caribbean as part of what it described as an "anti-narcotics" operation, Maduro said that "Latin America does not want coups, it doesn't need them, it rejects them."
"How long will the CIA continue to organize coups?" Maduro added. He stressed that Venezuela "will face any political or military assault" on its sovereignty.
Relations between Washington and Caracas have been increasingly strained since the U.S. administration announced its intention to expand economic sanctions against Venezuela and accused the Maduro government of "involvement in drug trafficking networks."