Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago - Trinidad and Tobago on Friday announced a new round of military exercises with the US, which has ramped up what it calls anti-drug operations in the Caribbean – angering nearby Venezuela.

Last month, a US guided missile destroyer docked at Trinidad for four days for another round of practice drills – within firing range of Venezuela, which called it a "provocation."

Caracas claims recent US military activity in Latin America is really a ploy to overthrow its leftist President Nicolas Maduro, who Washington considers an illegitimate leader and a drug lord.

Last month, it accused Trinidad and Tobago – a laid-back twin-island nation of 1.4 million people whose prime minister is a fierce Maduro critic and Washington ally – of serving as "a US aircraft carrier."

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On Friday, the archipelago's foreign ministry said joint training drills with the US Marine Corps 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will run from Sunday, November 16, until November 21.

It formed part "of our longstanding history of collaboration," a ministry statement said.

"Trinidad and Tobago continues to be burdened by the scourge of gun-related crimes and gang violence," it added.

"These intensified exercises form part of our coordinated strategy to ensure that our personnel are optimally trained and equipped to address these issues in our domestic environment which have taken a tremendous toll on our society."