FEARS grew today of an imminent US attack on Venezuela as the superpower’s biggest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, arrived off the South American country’s coast.

Countries rarely in agreement all called for restraint, with Germany and Switzerland saying today they hoped the US and Venezuela could engage in talks, as Russia urged Washington not to take actions that risked destabilising the region.

“I believe it is in everyone’s interest to prevent another war from breaking out,” Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said.

The United States has built up its biggest military force in the Caribbean in decades, and killed at least 70 people in recent weeks in illegal strikes on boats it accuses of smuggling drugs.

On Thursday US Secretary for War Pete Hegseth declared the commencement of “Operation Southern Spear,” which he claimed was aimed at crushing the illegal drug trade. The US accuses Venezuela, without evidence, of masterminding the trafficking of drugs across US borders — a claim many believe is intended to justify a regime change operation against its socialist government. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro warned on Thursday that a US attack could lead to a “forever war” as protracted as that in Afghanistan — where the US was finally defeated by the Taliban after a 20-year occupation.

“No more forever wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan. Long live peace,” he told a rally in Caracas.

But Mr Hegseth underlined the US’s proprietorial attitude to Latin America, intensifying worries of a looming invasion.

“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighbourhood — and we will protect it,” he declared.