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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has stated that he will constitutionally announce a “republic in arms” if U.S. forces in the Caribbean were to attack the South American nation.
President Maduro made these comments at a press conference on Monday, after the Trump administration increased its maritime defenses, securing deployments in the waters near Venezuela to counteract threats from Latin American drug cartels.
Estados Unidos has not mentioned any plans for a land invasion by the thousands of troops being sent, but Maduro’s government has reacted by mobilizing over 15,000 troops along its coasts and the border with neighboring Colombia, as well as by encouraging Venezuelans to join a civilian militia.
“In response to this extreme military pressure, we have announced maximum readiness for the defense of Venezuela,” Maduro explained, describing the escalation as “excessive, unjustifiable, immoral, and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”
To galvanize support among Venezuelans, Maduro shared that this is the most significant threat to the region in the last century, coming in the form of eight military ships with 1,200 missiles and a submarine targeted at his country.
The U.S. Navy currently has two Aegis-guided missile destroyers in the Caribbean patrolling the waters near Latin America, the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham, in addition to the USS Sampson destroyer and the USS Lake Erie cruiser.
Three amphibious assault ships, which house a force consisting of more than 4,000 sailors and Marines, are expected to enter the region this week, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke with the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The deployment coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued push for military action to combat cartels directly responsible for the influx of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into U.S. communities, as well as the violence they perpetuate in certain cities.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, referencing a UN report, informed his counterparts in various Latin American countries that the deployment of U.S. forces is based on a “false narrative,” as 87% of cocaine produced in Colombia exits via the Pacific.
Gil further stated that traffickers merely transport around 5% of their products through Venezuela, criticizing the Trump administration’s narrative which he describes as “threatening the entire region,” and underlining the potentially disastrous consequences an attack on Venezuela would have for regional stability.
“We must immediately demand an end to this deployment, which only serves to threaten a sovereign nation,” he said during a virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
Maduro also reasserted his claim as the legitimate winner of the country’s most recent presidential elections, which took place in late July of the previous year.
The elections were, however, marred by controversy and plagued by irregularities, prompting numerous countries, including the U.S., to withhold recognition of Maduro as the president of Venezuela.
Since the elections, the opposition in Venezuela has been urging the U.S. and other countries to intensify pressure on Maduro to force his departure and restore the country’s democratic integrity.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado thanked Trump for the deployment last week, arguing that it is “the correct approach” towards the Venezuelan government, which she denounced as a “criminal enterprise”.
Maduro, who accused Trump of seeking regime change, cautioned his U.S. counterpart that military action against his country would “tain (Trump’s hands) with blood.”
