Venezuela’s Maduro says US behavior is ‘aggression,’ communications largely cut

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(Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday that 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 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 said 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 judicial aggression when they criminalize us, a political aggression with their daily threatening statements, 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.

On Monday he said communications had been “thrown away,” though he later added there was still basic communication to facilitate the return of Venezuelans from the United States.

“The communications with the government of the U.S. have been thrown away, they have been thrown away by them with their threats of bombs, death and blackmail,” Maduro said.

The Trump administration has provided scant information about last week’s attack, despite demands from U.S. Congress members that the government justify the action.

The Venezuelan government, which says it has deployed tens of thousands of troops to fight drug trafficking and defend the country, has said none of the people killed belonged to the gang Tren de Aragua, as the U.S. has alleged.

Maduro has repeatedly alleged the U.S. is hoping to drive him from power.

The Trump administration has been supportive of the country’s opposition, which says it won last year’s presidential election, not Maduro.

The Venezuelan government said over the weekend that a U.S. destroyer illegally intercepted, boarded and occupied a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel for eight hours in the waters of the South American country’s Special Economic Zone.

Maduro repeated the accusation on Monday, saying the U.S. was “looking for an incident.”

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)