Venezuela asks for UN Security Council session over US military actions

Venezuela's government on Thursday requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council focused on the US military actions in recent weeks in the waters off the South American country.

Venezuela made the request in a letter addressed to Russia's ambassador to the U.N. and council president, Vassily Nebenzia, that accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of seeking to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and threatening "peace, security and stability regionally and internationally."

Maduro's government also expressed its expectation of an "armed attack" against Venezuela in "a very short time."

The request came a day after members of Congress voted down legislation that would have put a check on Trump's ability to use deadly military force against drug traffickers. So far, the US military has carried out four deadly strikes in the Caribbean since it increased its maritime forces for what Trump has declared an "armed conflict" with drug cartels.

Maduro's government, however, maintains that the White House is using drug trafficking only as an excuse for the operation.