The move follows weeks of escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela over the deployment of American warships to the Southern Caribbean

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's YouTube channel has vanished from the platform amid escalating tensions between Caracas and Washington.

According to state-run broadcaster Telesur, the channel went offline on Friday. It has since disappeared from search results and is now inaccessible even via direct link.

"This page is unavailable," reads the message where Maduro's channel once appeared.

YouTube's parent company, US-based Google, has not commented on the removal. Maduro's channel, with over 233,000 subscribers, mainly featured his speeches and weekly TV show. YouTube says accounts are removed for "repeated violations" such as misinformation, hate speech, or interfering with "democratic processes." Caracas has yet to comment on the takedown.

The apparent ban comes amid escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela. Relations soured when Washington refused to recognize Maduro's reelection, but the rift widened with the recent deployment of American warships and fighter jets to the Southern Caribbean. Last month, the US sent at least eight Navy vessels, an attack submarine, and about 4,000 troops near Venezuela's coast, saying the mission targeted drug cartels. Washington claimed the armada sank three Venezuelan boats but offered no proof those on board were criminals.

Venezuelan officials denounced the deployment as an assault on sovereignty and a plot to topple Maduro. Earlier this month, Maduro sent a letter to Trump, insisting Venezuela had dismantled trafficking networks and major drug gangs. He dismissed reports to the contrary as fake news and offered to hold direct talks with Washington on the issue.

"President, I hope that together we can defeat the falsehoods that have sullied our relationship, which must be historic and peaceful," Maduro wrote in the letter shared on Telegram by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

READ MORE: Maduro suggests reason behind US military buildup around Venezuela

Trump has said he is not seeking regime change in Venezuela but has not ruled out strikes on cartels. Last month, his administration doubled the reward for Maduro's arrest to $50 million over a 2020 New York indictment accusing him of conspiring to traffic cocaine, charges he called a coup plot. Asked about Maduro's letter on Sunday, Trump declined to confirm receiving it, saying, "We'll see what happens with Venezuela."

(RT.com)