A US aircraft carrier with 1,500 Marines on board which docked last Friday in the island of Curacao, north of Venezuela, did not pose a threat to the country, Defense Minister Orlando Maniglia said Monday.

In remarks to the state-run Venezuelan Television, Maniglia said this was a resting stopover after a nine-day naval drill, adding that a similar situation took place three months ago.

"They planned to have a resting day, like in the other occasion," he said.

But he noted that any foreign military approach off Venezuela's coasts will be closely followed.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez termed the presence in March of a US aircraft carrier in Curacao as an "act of provocation," but Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States William Brownfield later said the tension only was generated by a "lack of communication."

Maniglia said the US authorities had not previously informed his country of the ship's call, but at any rate "this is something normal."

Source: Xinhua