(MENAFN- Live Mint) Tensions between the US and Venezuela intensified Thursday after a US military strike on a small boat in the Caribbean killed six people. Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Samuel Moncada, condemned the action as“a new set of extrajudicial executions” and urged the UN Security Council to investigate what he described as a pattern of lethal force.

Also Read | Trump says US strike on drug-trafficking vessel near Venezuela killed six

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump called Nicolás Maduro and his government“illegitimate,” signalling a hardened stance.

The Trump administration has increasingly hinted at military action as a means to oust Maduro.

However, the White House has declined such claims.

The U.S. justifies the strikes by labelling the targets as suspected drug traffickers, treating them as unlawful combatants. However, Democrats argue these actions violate both U.S. and international law, while even some Republicans have requested more transparency about the legal basis for the operations.

Also Read | Trump confirms CIA conducting 'covert operations' inside Venezuela

The US began building its maritime forces in the Caribbean earlier this year in an unprecedented fashion not seen in recent times.

“The United States is overseeing a seismic reordering of defense priorities and assets to the Western Hemisphere,” stated a recent report from the think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, AP reported.

It noted that the US territory of Puerto Rico has provided“the lion's share of such infrastructure” as the US military seeks airfields and ports in the Caribbean region as concerns over the strikes grow.

“The administration's declaration of war against drug cartels has raised a host of legal, ethical and moral questions, and while the declaration of a state of armed conflict has offered some legal foundation, this is already facing fierce domestic scrutiny,” the centre stated in its report.

Trump defends the strikes

Asked at the White House on Wednesday why the U.S. does not use the Coast Guard to stop the Venezuelan vessels and seize any drugs, Trump replied,“We have been doing that for 30 years and it has been totally ineffective.”

The president also suggested the U.S. may strike targets inside Venezuela, a move that would significantly escalate tensions and the legal stakes. So far, the strikes have occurred in international waters beyond the jurisdiction of any single country, AP reported.

“We've almost totally stopped it by sea," Trump said of flow of drugs. "Now we'll stop it by land.”

Trump was also asked about a New York Times report saying he had authorised a covert CIA operation in Venezuela.

We've almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we'll stop it by land.

Trump, who has harshly criticised the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein, declined to say whether he had given the CIA authority to take out Maduro, saying it would be“ridiculous" to answer, AP reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

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