CARACAS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is waging "psychological warfare" against Venezuela following the failure of its economic sanctions, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil said Tuesday.

"They are now resorting to psychological warfare, to military psychological warfare," Gil said during the opening of the People's Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty of Our America, an event being held in Caracas.

As part of its new strategy, he said, the United States is using "economic power, military power and, above all, media power to wage an unprecedented psychological war" against Venezuela and the region.

We are facing "a very important challenge in the history of our republics in our region," Gil said, adding that more than 500 delegates from some 50 countries across all continents are participating in the gathering.

The event, organized by the National Council for Sovereignty and Peace of Venezuela, will focus on key issues such as the U.S. military threat, transnational crime in the region, and the Monroe Doctrine, a policy revived by Washington to "generate domination" in the region, said Gil.

Since the end of August, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, describing it as part of efforts to combat drug trafficking, which Venezuela has denounced as an attempt to engineer regime change in the South American country. Enditem