US Uses 'Hybrid Aggression' Against Venezuela to Oust Maduro

"The government of the United States for a number of years has followed its classic pattern of forced regime change towards the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and conducts a so-called hybrid aggression, using both soft power and hard power with the support of the European Union and a group of countries," he stated, Sputnik reported.

The Minister explained this US policy as an attempt to oust the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

"The real [US] aim is to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, using a far-fetched pretext of a humanitarian crisis, which is not present in our country," he stressed.

US-Venezuelan relations have been tense for decades with Caracas regularly blaming Washington for interfering in its internal affairs and exerting economic and political pressure on Venezuela.

Venezuela currently has one of the worst economic crises in the country's history, which started in 2012 with changes on the global oil market. More than 95 percent of its export revenues come from oil and its derivatives.

In 2015, with the oil price falling to $50 per barrel, Venezuela's economy was knocked out, leaving the population with shortages of food and medicine.