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[Reporting from Tokyo, Japan]

AS tensions between the United States and Venezuela continue to ripple throughout the Caribbean Sea, the Japanese government says it is 'closely' monitoring the US' escalating naval build-up and the ongoing Venezuelan response in the region.

Japan, which maintains one of the highest- budgeted militaries globally despite its constitutional limits, is observing the heightened military presence that swelled in the southern Caribbean between August and September with serious concern, a senior official has said.