Venezuela announced on Wednesday the start of military drills in two coastal areas, particularly around Maiquetia International Airport serving the capital, in response to US military movements in the Caribbean Sea region.

For over a month, Washington has deployed eight warships and a nuclear-powered submarine to the southern Caribbean Sea off Venezuela’s coast in a mission officially aimed at combating drug trafficking.

US forces targeted at least four boats they said were used for drug smuggling, in operations that resulted in the deaths of at least 21 people.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned the United States for what he called an “armed aggression,” accusing Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext “to impose regime change” in Caracas and to control the country’s oil reserves, which are among the largest in the world.

Maduro said in an audio recording on Telegram that “Operation Independence 200 has been fully activated with all defensive and offensive plans in the La Guaira defense area,” the state where Caracas’ port and airport are located, “and in the Carabobo defense area,” a coastal state west of Caracas.

According to the government, the plan involves deploying soldiers, drones, and armed personnel.

In Carabobo state, police and army personnel were deployed, especially on the main street of its largest city Valencia, to train for repelling an “attack,” according to a correspondent for Agence France-Presse.

Maduro is expected to issue a “decree on external disturbances” granting him special powers and allowing him to temporarily suspend constitutional provisions, according to sources close to him.

In a related context, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said, “We must prepare because the illogical approach of North American imperialism is not normal,” denouncing what he described as “vulgar” and “aggressive” behavior.