A major US military build-up near Venezuela has led to speculation that President Donald Trump is planning to try to topple Venezuela' Socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
Washington accuses Maduro of heading an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel, "Cartel de los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns), which the United States on Monday designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
Venezuela's foreign ministry on Monday rejected what it called "the new and ridiculous lie from Secretary of State Marco Rubio" which it said aimed "to justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela."
On Tuesday, the top US military officer, Dan Caine, will visit the small Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, a US ally situated a few miles from Venezuela that recently hosted US troops for training exercises.
The US embassy said that the visit by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff would focus on "countering illicit trafficking and transnational criminal organizations."
The visit is part of a months-long campaign of maximum pressure on Maduro, whose reelection last year was widely dismissed by the international community as fraudulent.
Maduro appeared at two public events on Monday without mentioning the designation, instead reiterating that Venezuela will remain triumphant.
"Whatever they do, wherever they do it, however they do it, they will not be able to defeat Venezuela. We are invincible," Maduro said during his weekly television program.
The US has deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier and other military forces to waters near Venezuela as part of a stated campaign to dismantle Latin American drug trafficking routes.
The Trump administration claims that the Cartel of the Suns is a drug trafficking syndicate run by Maduro and has issued a $50 million reward for the president's capture.
But Venezuela and countries that support it insist no such organization even exists.
Several Venezuela experts say what Washington calls the Cartel of the Suns refers to the corruption of senior officials by criminal gangs.
- Flights cancelled -
US forces have killed at least 83 people in strikes on boats accused of ferrying drugs from Latin America towards the United States since September, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures.
No evidence has been made public that drugs were on board, and experts say the strikes are likely illegal even if the targets were proven to be drug traffickers.
The terrorism designation will give Washington legal cover for more pressure on the Venezuelan authorities.
The Trump administration has been vague about how far it is willing to go in Venezuela, but the huge military build-up and regular killings of people in small boats have rattled nerves -- and prompted concerns in Washington that the US military may be breaking the law.
On Saturday, six airlines announced they were canceling flights to Venezuela due to safety concerns.
The US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday urged civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace to "exercise caution" due to the "worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela."
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