Xinhua News Agency, Havana, September 18 (Reporter Jiang Biao) The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 18th, strongly condemning the U.S. government's upgrading of its military deployment in the Caribbean Sea and accusing the U.S. of trying to find an excuse for military invasion of Venezuela.

The statement said that the United States has recently escalated its actions in the Caribbean Sea, including increasing the deployment of military forces and equipment, attacking civilian ships by force, and spreading the so-called information that "Venezuela threatens the national security and people's well-being of the United States". The statement pointed out that the real purpose of the US is to "seize Venezuela's oil and natural resources".

The statement said Cuba has repeatedly warned that the U.S. deployment of military forces in the Caribbean in recent weeks was intended to provoke a military conflict with Venezuela, and that a direct military aggression by Venezuela would have inestimable consequences for peace, stability and security in the Americas.

Recently, military tensions between the United States and Venezuela have continued. US President Trump said on the 16th that the United States had "sunk" three Venezuelan ships. On the 13th, five F-35 fighter jets arrived at a military base in Puerto Rico, an overseas territory of the United States, across the sea from Venezuela. Venezuelan President Maduro said on the 15th that the United States unilaterally launched "all-out aggression" against Venezuela, and the communication between the two governments was basically interrupted.