CARACAS, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned about the presence of U.S. military ships in the Caribbean Sea, saying "the U.S. empire is playing a dangerous game" not only for the region but also for itself.

In an interview conducted by former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa for Russian news network RT and broadcast Tuesday by local media, Maduro said the United States is playing "an extremist card" by creating a "false narrative."

"What the current U.S. government is doing is creating a false narrative to justify military action, to start a war in South America for regime change," he said.

The United States aims, through "military intimidation," to back Venezuela's far right, which has been defeated domestically "on all fronts," he added.

Maduro reiterated that, contrary to accusations made by Donald Trump's administration, which seeks to link his government to the drug cartels, "Venezuela is a free country, completely free from the phenomenon of drug trafficking."

"All drug trafficking in South America and the world is directed from the United States ... it is in the United States that the mafias are located, that the real cartels are located," he said.

Washington's real concern "is oil, not drug trafficking," he said, adding it also aims to take control of the South American country's other natural resources. ■