Venezuela mobilizes troops amid US naval presence
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said nearly 200,000 troops were mobilized nationwide for what he described as an exercise aimed at countering perceived “threats” from the United States. “Almost 200,000 troops have been deployed throughout the country for this exercise,” Padrino Lopez told state television, adding that the operation supplements the armed forces’ regular activities.
In tandem with the deployment, Venezuela’s National Assembly passed legislation designed to strengthen the country’s defense posture against U.S. military activity. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez noted that the law creates “a new way of dealing with the deployment, compliance with orders, the movement of troops and, above all, the conjunction between the people and the Armed Forces.”
The troop mobilization coincided with the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, one of the world’s largest aircraft carriers, into the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, which encompasses Latin America and the Caribbean. The U.S. maintains that its largest military buildup in the region in decades is focused on combating drug trafficking. Since September, the campaign has reportedly involved at least 19 attacks on vessels in international waters, resulting in at least 75 deaths.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected claims that his country is involved in drug trafficking and accused the United States of “manufacturing a war” aimed at removing him from power.
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