The Venezuelan government is accusing the Netherlands of helping the United States prepare an attack from Dutch islands in the Caribbean.

A statement says that the warlike U.S. government, aided by the Netherlands, is preparing an assault on the territory of the Venezuelan people.

The Netherlands had earlier assured Venezuela that US troops were only on the islands of Aruba and Curaçao to combat the drugs trade. However, Venezuela is insisting its airspace has been violated by US military planes based on the Dutch islands.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regularly lashes out at what he sees as US aggression. Recently the Netherlands has increasingly been included in his accusations.