Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US government of “fabricating a new eternal war” against him, as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford inches towards the Venezuelan coast .

The US deployment of the carrier – the world’s largest warship – follows 11 US strikes on boats in Venezuelan waters, which the US claims are trafficking drugs and are linked to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.

On Tuesday, Venezuela suspended a major gas deal with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, citing the island nation’s reception of the USS Gravely, another US warship.

So far, the US has not produced any evidence that the Venezuelan boats it has targeted were carrying drugs, and Maduro denies it. “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves,” he said last week. Furth

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