Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his country would not be deterred by U.S. "psychological war" after multiple airlines cancelled flights into the country on Monday.

Speaking on his weekly TV program 'With Maduro+', alongside Venezuelan Minister of Transport, Ramón Celestino Velásquez Araguayán, Maduro warned that for "whoever breaks the rules - there are laws".

Two Venezuelan airlines announced on Monday the cancellation of their flights to and from Venezuela, joining seven international airlines that have already suspended operations following a warning from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration about alleged risks of flying in the country's airspace.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned pilots on Friday to exercise caution when flying over Venezuela "due to the deteriorating security situation and increased military activity" around the country.

The FAA warning came amid ongoing tensions over the deployment since September of U.S. military forces carrying out a series of attacks against vessels suspected of drug trafficking in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, including several boats that they claim departed from Venezuela. At least 80 people have died.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said the naval deployment is aimed at combating threats from Latin American drug cartels.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, meanwhile, described the deployment as an attack on the nation's sovereignty and part of an effort to overthrow him.

Trump’s administration on Monday further ramped up pressure on Maduro by designating Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. The U.S. government alleges the entity is led by Maduro.

Speaking on VTV government television, Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez called the move "ridiculous".

The Maduro government categorically rejected, in a Monday communiqué, the cartel’s existence and described the Trump administration’s accusation as a “ridiculous fabrication” aimed at “justifying an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela.”

AP Video shot by Andry Rincon