Venezuela on Friday accused the United States of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean, where Washington has deployed warships and blown up alleged drug boats in recent weeks.
“It is an undeclared war, and you can already see how people, whether or not they are drug traffickers, have been executed in the Caribbean Sea. Executed without the right to a defense,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said as he reported on Venezuelan military exercises in response to the US “military threat.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the United States accuses of running a drug cartel, announced late Thursday that troops will provide residents of low-income neighborhoods with weapons training.
Maduro, for whom Washington has issued a $50 million bounty on drug trafficking charges, accuses the Donald Trump administration of planning an invasion in pursuit of regime change.
The troops will “teach all those men and women who enlisted (in Venezuela’s civilian militia) how to handle weapons systems,” the leftist strongman said on state television.
The biggest US naval deployment in the Caribbean in decades and US strikes on at least two Venezuelan boats allegedly transporting drugs, have stoked fears the United States is planning attacks on Venezuelan territory.
The United States also sent F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to support its Caribbean flotilla composed of seven ships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
On Wednesday, Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat.
La Orchila is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
President Trump says US forces have “knocked off” three boats but Washington has only provided details and video footage of two of the strikes that killed 14 people described as “narco-terrorists” by the US leader.
Washington says its operations are part of its war on drug trafficking and dismisses questions over the legality of the strikes in international waters.
Trump has also sought to increase pressure on Maduro, whom the United States and much of the international community does not recognize as Venezuela’s rightful president after two disputed re-elections.
Maduro accused the United States of hatching “an imperial plan for regime change and to impose a US puppet government… to come and steal our oil.”
He has repeatedly vowed Caracas will exercise its “legitimate right to defend itself” against US aggression.
