Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro slammed U.S. anti-narcotics operations as an “act of war,” and vowed to resist any effort to topple his regime. The Trump administration, however, dismissed his threats and pledged to bring an end to his anti-American operations.

According to Maduro, President Donald Trump’s show of force is a “pretext” for an American invasion and is seen as an “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat” to him.