CNN International is quoting a Venezuela's navy commander as saying that the Venezuelan navy is taking a close look at the American military presence on the nearby island of Curacao to determine the intention of US operations there

Navy Commander Armando Laguna told reporters said the navy is "taking precautions" as it observes the presence of US Marines, along with military planes and amphibious vehicles on the island ... he did not provide details of what measures the Venezuelan navy is taking.

Laguna told the state-run VTV television that the navy had "detected a series of (military) units" on Curacao ... in the Netherlands Antilles just 46 miles (75 kilometers) northeast of Venezuela's oil industry sensitive Paraguana Peninsula.

"We have taken precautions to determine what the intention is," Laguna said. He added that the US Navy often carries out exercises in southern Caribbean but this time they have patently failed to give customarily due notification to the Venezuelan Defense Department.

Adding to the concern, there has been an apparent blanket on press comment from the US Embassy bunker on Colinas de Valle Arriba in Caracas.

CNN International notes that tensions between Caracas and Washington D.C. have increased recently following revelations that the United States is trying to isolate Venezuela from its Latin American neighbors and have stepped up black-bag propaganda efforts to portray President Hugo Chavez Frias as a tyrant and threat to the region.

Officials in Washington have repeatedly denied that George. W. Bush's administration is seeking to isolate Venezuela, but last week, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque took issue against the United States at the Organization of American States (OAS), on claims that Washington has repeatedly violated Venezuelan sovereignty ... he said that Venezuelan government's intelligence agencies have evidence of an attempt to "physically liquidate" Chavez Frias.