Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asserts readiness to defend the nation’s sovereignty amid US military deployments near Venezuela’s waters.
“They have no chance of entering Venezuela,” Maduro affirmed on Thursday, highlighting the country’s readiness to defend its sovereignty in the face of US warships’ arrival, intended for an operation against drug trafficking in Latin America.
“Today, we are stronger than yesterday. We are more prepared to protect our peace, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” Maduro stated in an address to the troops, according to the state-run Venezuelan News Agency.
This statement comes as Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to express concerns over the increasing US military presence.
“The US is running a major propaganda campaign to justify what experts term as kinetic action, meaning a military intervention in a sovereign and independent nation that poses no threat to anyone,” Moncada told reporters after the meeting.
“They claim to have deployed a nuclear submarine… It is absurd to consider them serious in fighting drug trafficking with nuclear submarines,” the ambassador added, criticizing the military tactics employed.
Admiral Daryl Claude, the US Navy’s chief of naval operations, confirmed Thursday that US warships were deployed to the waters near South America. This action was due to some Venezuelans’ alleged involvement in large-scale drug operations, according to a U.S. official.
About seven US warships, including one nuclear-powered submarine, are currently or will soon be positioned in the region, with over 4,500 US service members on board, including 2,200 Marines, involved in an operation following the Trump administration’s accusations linking Maduro and his government to cocaine trafficking.
In response to these threats, Venezuela has mobilized warships and drones to patrol its coast and enlisted thousands of militia members to fortify its defenses. Additionally, Caracas has dispatched 15,000 troops to its borders with Colombia to combat drug trafficking and criminal activities.
Maduro expressed gratitude to Colombia for deploying an additional 25,000 military personnel to their mutual border to tackle “narco-terrorist” groups.
The US has not openly threatened invasion; however, Trump’s focus on powerful criminal gangs, especially the cocaine trafficking Cartel de los Soles, which his administration has classified as terrorist and accused Maduro of leading, endures. Maduro counters these accusations, suggesting that Washington seeks to enact regime change in Venezuela with its $50 million bounty for his capture due to alleged drug-related offences.
