Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service.
We're coming to you live from London.
I'm James Menendez.
And we're going to begin with Venezuela and the Trump administration's slow but steady ratcheting up of pressure against the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
That campaign began with attacks against boats alleged to be smuggling drugs into the US.
There have now been 25 in all, killing at least 95 people.
There's also been a huge build-up of US military hardware in the Caribbean,
including the presence of the world's biggest aircraft carrier.
And now what Mr.
Trump's called the largest Armada ever assembled in the history of South America,
deployed to stop sanctioned oil tankers from leaving or entering Venezuelan waters.
A quote, complete blockade, he says.
Well, that announcement was met with condemnation from the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro,
shown here on state TV, dancing to a song called Not War, Yes to Peace.
He said the blockade was just an attempt to get hold of Venezuela's abundant natural resources,
including the world's largest proven oil reserves.
We tell the people of the United States our truth and it is very clear.
Imperialism and the Nazi fascist right-wing want to colonize Venezuela to take our wealth,
oil, gas, gold, iron, aluminum and other minerals.
We have sworn to defend our homeland and in Venezuela peace will always prevail along with stability and shared happiness for our people.