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CARICOM, and the wider Caribbean region, must remain a zone of peace, former prime minister Stuart Young urges, as concerns mount over a brewing military conflict between the United States and Venezuela.

The message came amid the ongoing build-up of a powerful US military naval fleet off the coast of Venezuela, purportedly to curb narcotics trafficking cartels.

"The recent developments being reported by international media should be of concern to all citizens and I dare say to the region," Young said in a text to Newsday on August 21.