President Donald Trump said Friday he is not considering strikes on Venezuela, which fears a major US military buildup in the region is aimed at regime change in Caracas.
The United States has deployed eight US Navy ships to the Caribbean, sent F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico and an aircraft carrier strike group is en route to the region -- a massive military force that Washington insists is aimed at curbing drug trafficking.
"No," Trump responded when asked by a journalist aboard Air Force One about reports that he was considering such strikes.
Washington began a campaign of strikes targeting alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September that has killed at least 62 people and destroyed 14 boats and a semi-submersible.
The Trump administration casts the small boats as a threat to US national security because of the drugs they allegedly carry, but experts say the strikes amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.
In addition to the military assets deployed in the region, Washington has carried out multiple shows of force with B-52 and B-1B bombers flying near Venezuela's coast, the most recent of which took place on Monday.
Regional tensions have flared as a result of the strikes and the military buildup, with Venezuela saying the United States is plotting to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, who has accused Washington of "fabricating a war."
