Venezuela’s defence minister says military vessels and drones will be sent to patrol the country’s coastline amid simmering tension with the United States after Washington deployed warships to waters off Venezuela to fight drug trafficking.In a video on social media on Tuesday, Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino announced a “significant” drone deployment as well as naval patrols along the country’s Caribbean coast, including “larger vessels further north in our territorial waters”.The move comes after Washington last week deployed an amphibious squadron of three warships towards Venezuela’s coast in what it said was an operation against Latin American drug cartels.News agencies reported on Monday that two more US ships – a guided missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine – had also been dispatched to the Caribbean, and that some 4,500 US service members, including 2,200 Marines, were part of the deployment.The US naval build-up comes after the administration of US President Donald Trump last week accused Venezuela’s left-wing president, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in cocaine trafficking and working with drug cartels.Washington also announced that it had doubled a reward for the capture or prosecution of Maduro on drug charges from $25m to $50m. The US is also offering a reward of $25m for the arrest or prosecution of Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello.US officials have accused Maduro and members of his government of heading the Venezuelan cocaine trafficking cartel Cartel de los Soles, which Washington has designated a terrorist organisation . Advertisement Maduro has dismissed the accusations and accused the US of attempting to instigate regime change in …
