Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday recent incidents between his country and the United States are an "aggression" by the US, not tensions between the two countries, and that there is no communication between the governments.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has ratcheted up US military presence in the southern Caribbean as part of what it says is a crackdown on drug smugglers.
This month, a US military strike killed 11 people and sank a boat from Venezuela that the Trump administration claimed was transporting illegal narcotics.
The US Government is trying to justify the launch of a "criminal attack" on his country, Maduro said during a press conference attended by top military brass and other officials.
"This isn't tension. It is an aggression all down the line, it's a police aggression...a political aggression, a diplomatic aggression and an ongoing aggression of military character," Maduro said.
Maduro, whose government has historically met with US officials to negotiate everything from hostage releases to conditions for elections, had said this month that communications between the two governments were damaged.
On Monday he said communications had been "thrown away," though he later added there was still basic communication to facilitate the return of Venezuelans from the United States.
"The communications with the government of the US are thrown away, they are thrown away by them with their threats of bombs, death and blackmail," Maduro said.
The Venezuelan Government said over the weekend that a US destroyer "illegally" intercepted, boarded and occupied a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel for eight hours in the waters of the South American country's Special Economic Zone.
Maduro repeated the accusation on Monday, saying the US was, "looking for an incident."
(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)