Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has issued a stern warning to the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana as tension in the southern Caribbean continues to escalate.

Venezuela has accused the US of seeking regime change under the pretence of fighting narco-trafficking and warned TT that it will receive "an answer" if it allows the US to use TT soil to launch an attack on their country,

A fleet of US warships has been camped in the southern Caribbean for the past weeks and on September 2 blew up a pirogue allegedly carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela to Trinidad. All 11 people aboard the vessel were killed.