BOGOTA, Colombia

Venezuela has asked the UN Security Council to declare that the deadly US attacks on speedboats off its coast are illegal and to issue a declaration supporting the country's sovereignty.

Through its Permanent Representative to the UN, Samuel Moncada, the government of Venezuela also requested the Security Council to affirm the threat that these illicit actions represent for the preservation of peace in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Moncada cited several issues, including extrajudicial executions, the concentration of US military forces, the US’s bellicose rhetoric against Venezuela and clandestine CIA operations designed to commit political murders.

He referred to US President Donald Trump, who confirmed a report that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela. Trump further said the US was "looking at land" as it considers further strikes on drug cartels in the region.

As a third point, Moncada said the Venezuelan government demanded unrestricted respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Venezuela as an indispensable basis for preserving peace.

He reported a total of five illegal attacks and 27 deceased people, noting that some of the victims have been recognized by their families and governments as nationals of Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.

“There is a killer roaming the Caribbean who is bloodthirsty and is killing everyone who is on the sea working,” he said, adding that these threats “affect the entire region, not only Venezuela.”

The request was presented in light of the most recent attack on Oct. 14 “against civilians who were on board a small vessel in a stationary position on the Caribbean Sea, a few miles from the Venezuelan coast,” said Moncada, who accused the US of “fabricating a conflict.”

“There is time to stop this madness; we don't want war, and we know the American people don't want war,” he added.

Trump has ordered a large military effort in the southern Caribbean, and his troops have carried out at least five attacks against ships near the coast of the South American country.

The Security Council will not be able to take any action because the US maintains the power to veto. The body met for the first time this week, at the request of Venezuela, Russia and China, to address the escalating tensions.