US strikes on Venezuela: How did we get here?

After months of rising tensions, a build-up of US warships in the Caribbean and escalating threats of military action, America has struck Venezuela.

It is a seismic move, US President Donald Trump claimed Venezuelan President ‍Nicolas Maduro has been captured and taken out of the country.

Much of what has happened or is still happening remains unclear, but it follows a lengthy period of extreme friction between the two countries.

Here, we look at how things escalated to this point. Trump's talk of 'drug cartels' and boat strikes

Tensions first started to escalate in September, when Mr Trump accused Mr Maduro of heading up a drugs cartel - without providing evidence.

The following month, the Trump administration said the US was in "armed conflict" with drug cartels, accusing Mr Maduro of playing a major role in supplying illegal drugs that kill Americans, which Maduro denies.

According to US data, Venezuela is a transit country for cocaine bound for Europe and America, and a haven for criminal groups that move drugs, but it is not a source for fentanyl, the drug linked to most US overdoses.

The Trump administration has prompted outcry - both inside and outside Venezuela - for its campaign of strikes against boats in the region, which have killed 115 people.

The US leader and his team claim the vessels are being used by gangs to carry drugs, but have released no evidence to support assertions those killed in the boats were "narco-terrorists".

Does Trump want Venezuela's oil?

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world, but corruption and underfunding go some way to explaining why it has not been able to leverage them in the way Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia have.

And while some Western oil companies have remained active in the country, years of sanctions have kept Venezuela from attracting investment and obtaining the equipment and parts it needs.

Mr Maduro has claimed the US wants his country's oil, which it currently sells mostly to China.

Analysts say Venezuela's oil reserves may be of interest to Mr Trump, but the bigger issue could be who Venezuela allies itself with.

"The idea that you have this country, with oil, and minerals, and rare earths in our hemisphere and its main allies being China and Russia, that's something that doesn't really fit into Trump's view of the world," said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University.

That brings us on to the Trump administration's strategy in the region, which has marked a return to a more interventionist and assertive approach.

In his National Security Strategy last month, Mr Trump argued that America should revive the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which said the Western Hemisphere is Washington's so-called zone of influence.

This raised eyebrows not only in Latin America, but in Europe, where leaders worry this talk echoes what Russia has long desired in Ukraine and beyond.

The build-up of US military forces in the region over the last several weeks has suggested the US is willing to take a more coercive approach to the region than in recent years - something that now looks undeniable following the strikes.

Mr Trump's National Security Strategy alludes to US influence in Latin America as a way to deny Beijing access to resources such as military installations and critical minerals.

Under pressure from strict US sanctions, Mr Maduro's government has signed energy and mining deals with China, as well as with Iran and Russia.

Mr Trump does not recognise Mr Maduro as the leader of Venezuela.

Mr Maduro has been in power since 2013, including re-elections in contests marred by accusations of fraud.

He is currently serving his third term after being declared the winner of last year's presidential election, despite evidence that the opposition defeated him by a two-to-one margin.

In October last year, Mr Maduro accused Mr Trump of seeking regime change and of "fabricating a new eternal war" against his country.

He denies having any links to the illegal drug trade.

He also claimed the US strikes targeting boats are illegal, amount to murder, and are acts of aggression.

In a message to American citizens on 16 October, he said in English: "Not war, yes peace. The people of the US, please."