Venezuela announced Wednesday the launch of a military exercise in two coastal regions, including around the Maiquetia International Airport serving the capital, in response to U.S. military maneuvers in the Caribbean.

Washington deployed eight warships and a nuclear-powered submarine to the southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela, more than a month ago, officially as part of an anti-narcotics operation.

To date, the Trump administration has struck at least four suspected drug trafficking vessels, killing at least 21 people.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denounced an "armed aggression" by the United States, accusing Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext "to impose regime change" and seize some of the world's largest oil reserves.

"The Independence 200 exercise has begun, with the full activation of all defense and offensive plans in the La Guaira Comprehensive Defense Zone," the state where the port and airport of Caracas are located, "and in the Carabobo Comprehensive Defense Zone," a coastal state west of Caracas, the president said in an audio on Telegram.

According to the government, the plan includes the deployment of soldiers, drones and the National Militia, a paramilitary body.

In the state of Carabobo, police and military personnel have been deployed, notably on University Avenue, one of the main arteries of the capital Valencia, to practice repelling an "invasion," an AFP journalist noted.

President Maduro is also preparing to issue a "decree on external disturbances," which would give him special powers and allow for the "temporary restriction" of certain constitutional rights, according to his entourage.