Speaking at a meeting of the 15-member council, Venezuela’s UN ambassador Samuel Moncada slammed Washington for pursuing “continental ambitions” that go far beyond Venezuela, according to Al Jazeera.

“It’s not just about Venezuela. The ambition is continental,” Moncada said.

“The US government has expressed this in its National Security Strategy, which states that the future of the continent belongs to them,” he added.

Moncada said Caracas wanted the international community to recognize a deliberate effort to fragment the region in order to dominate it.

“We want to alert the world that Venezuela is only the first target of a larger plan. The US government wants us to be divided so it can conquer us piece by piece,” he said.

Meanwhile, Venezuela said it had requested the Security Council meeting earlier this month to address “ongoing US aggression” that it said began in September.

According to Moncada, the White House launched air strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, accusing them of drug trafficking without presenting evidence.

Washington has said the operations are aimed at stopping the flow of narcotics into the United States.

Separately, Moncada said at least 105 people had been killed in the attacks by US forces, which legal experts and several Latin American leaders have described as “extrajudicial killings”.

He rejected US claims that the actions were driven by security concerns.

At the meeting, Moncada also condemned the administration of President Donald Trump for violating international law as well as US domestic law by acting without approval from the US Congress, which holds the authority to declare war.

Meanwhile, he criticized the naval blockade imposed last week on Venezuelan oil tankers sanctioned by the United States, describing it as an act of warfare.

Moncada said the move amounted to “a military act aimed at laying siege to the Venezuelan nation”.

“Today, the masks have come off,” he said.

“It is not drugs, it is not security, it is not freedom. It is oil, it is mines and it is land.”