Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has vowed to mobilize over four million militia fighters in response to new US “threats” after Washington raised the reward for his arrest to $50 million and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean.
“This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory – militias that are prepared, activated and armed,” Maduro said in a televised address.
The US government accuses Maduro of leading a cocaine smuggling network known as the Cartel de los Soles, which has led to increased tensions between the two nations.
Maduro denounced the “extravagant, bizarre and outlandish threats” from Washington, emphasizing that the US has not provided any evidence linking him to drug cartels.
The US military has deployed three guided-missile destroyers, the USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson, to the southern Caribbean as part of a broader operation against Latin American drug cartels.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello responded, saying, “We are also deployed throughout the Caribbean … in our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory.”
Maduro urged his political base to expand worker and peasant militias, promising to arm them with “rifles and missiles” to defend the country’s sovereignty.
Despite mounting pressure, Maduro expressed gratitude for international voices that have spoken against the US stance, dismissing Washington’s rhetoric as a “rotten refrain”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected US allegations linking Maduro to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, stating that her government had no evidence of such ties.
“Mexico has no investigation underway and no proof that Maduro is linked to the Sinaloa Cartel,” Sheinbaum said.
The US had previously sanctioned Maduro and his allies, accusing them of narco-terrorism and corruption. Maduro’s presidency has been marked by controversy, with critics accusing him of authoritarianism and human rights abuses.
