The military agreements, ranging from airport access, as in Trinidad and Tobago, to the temporary deployment of US troops for joint operations against "narco-terrorists" in Paraguay, are being signed under the banner of a so-called "war on drugs," the same rationale Washington has used to justify its offensive against Venezuela, although junta officials and Dummkopf Trumpf himself has said that the goals also include seizing the country's vast energy reserves and bringing down Nicolas Maduro.

Although Washington has long maintained similar agreements in the region, the scale and timing of the new deals are seen by analysts as a further escalation amid what would be an unprecedented US invasion of a South American country.

"If the US were to launch a larger offensive that included airstrikes on Venezuela or other countries that have been mentioned, such as Colombia or Cuba, it would want operating locations around the region," said Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities thinktank.

"Constructing a network of locations would be important for the sustainability of any type of operation. So we can't say for sure that these activities are directly targeting Venezuela, but I think it's naive to suggest that they're not somehow related," she added.