Venezuelan command has prematurely halted the Operation Luis Cáceres de Arizmendi military exercises on Margarita Island amid a significant increase in the American air force presence near Trinidad and Tobago waters, according to sources in the country's Ministry of Defense.

The exercises, which began last week, were aimed at practicing coastal defense and coordinating forces in the eastern Caribbean. They were interrupted after several American reconnaissance and combat aircraft were detected flying in international airspace near the islands, which Venezuelan authorities viewed as a provocation amid growing tensions with the United States.