Venezuela has accused the United States of military harassment after Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said five US fighter jets were detected near the country’s coast.
"They are fighter jets. Imperialism has dared to approach the Venezuelan coast," Padrino said in a state television broadcast.
He described the flights as "a provocation" and "a threat to the security of the nation".
Padrino warned that any US attack would trigger a "national mobilisation", adding: "I denounce before the world the military harassment, the military threat of the United States Government against the people of Venezuela."
Tensions between Caracas and Washington have escalated in recent weeks.
The US deployed 10 F-35 aircraft to Puerto Rico last month as part of its largest military build-up in the Caribbean in decades, which also includes eight warships and a nuclear submarine.
President Nicolas Maduro has called the mobilisation a "siege" and a "threat."
Legal justification?
The dispute comes after Washington confirmed several strikes on suspected drug traffickers’ boats in international waters near Venezuela.
At least 14 people have been killed in three attacks.
In a notice sent to Congress and obtained by AFP, the Pentagon said President Donald Trump had determined that drug cartels "are non-state armed groups" whose actions "constitute an armed attack against the United States."
The notice said smugglers were considered "unlawful combatants."
A White House official added that the notice was required after any military strike and "does not convey any new information."
Maduro has accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a false pretext to justify regime change and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Last month, after Venezuelan aircraft buzzed a US naval vessel, Trump warned that any repeat would result in Venezuelan jets being "shot down."
