Venezuela says the United States "invented" the attack on a ship allegedly loaded with drugs.

Barcelona"They're liars." After days of silence, Venezuela reacted forcefully to the attack, claimed by the United States, on a drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean, which reportedly left eleven victims. The country's Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello, said Wednesday night that Washington authorities "invented" the alleged attack on a boat as part of the "usual" strategy, with the goal of bringing about "regime change in Venezuela" and forcing the country to "leave" the Bolivarian revolution.

For Cabello, many unanswered questions remain about the attack: "Furthermore, they pompously announce the murder of eleven people. That's very delicate. And the right to defense? [...] There are things that aren't clear," he said. He emphasized that, although "doubts are beginning to emerge," the answers "have not yet appeared." While showing images from the video released Tuesday by the Pentagon, the minister questioned whether there were really eleven people on board the ship seen. "They are liars," he said. In fact, Venezuela's communications minister, Freddy Ñáñez, had already asserted on Tuesday that the video had been created using artificial intelligence.

For his part, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro considers the military deployment in the Caribbean Sea an "assault" by the United States and maintains that Venezuela will continue "standing" and with "unshakeable faith in victory." In fact, he responded to the deployment of the US fleet in the Caribbean Sea by calling for military enlistment of the Bolivarian Militia.

"Today imperialism launches a new attack, not the first nor the last, just another attack, and Venezuela is standing, and I tell you that Venezuela will continue to stand, with serenity, with firmness, with unshakeable faith in victory and in peace," he said Wednesday of China's victory over Japan in World War II. This anniversary, Maduro told Chinese ambassador Lan Hu, "shows Venezuela's support for the anti-fascist struggle." "It is a firm representation to remember the resistance that has characterized us in the face of any aggression, repression, or military invasion," he added.

Many questions remain about the attack. US authorities have not clarified either the nationality of the individuals or whether they really belonged to the El Tren de Aragua gang, as the Donald Trump administration claims. No details have been released about the means the United States used to carry out the attack: it is unknown whether the vessel was destroyed by a drone, a missile, or some type of projectile. The Pentagon has not released details about the crew or why they decided to kill the occupants, nor what law they relied on to do so. Trump simply stated that the vessel was carrying "a lot of drugs."