Venezuela mobilizes troops as US carrier group enters Caribbean waters
Members of the Bolivarian National Militia participate in a military drill amid rising tensions with the United States, in Naguanagua, Venezuela
Venezuela says it is initiating a “massive mobilization” of military personnel, weapons, and equipment in response to the buildup of U.S. warships and troops in the Caribbean Sea.
Land, air, naval, and reserve forces will execute exercises through Wednesday, according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who characterized the deployment as a reaction to the “imperialist threat” posed by the U.S. buildup.
In addition to regular military units, the exercises will include the Bolivarian Militia – a reserve force composed of civilians that was established by the late President Hugo Chávez and is named after Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary who achieved the independence of several Latin American countries from Spain.
Padrino López, who attributed the order directly to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, stated that the aim of the exercise was to “optimize command, control, and communications” and ensure the country’s defense.
The move occurs amid escalating tension between the two countries as the U.S. buildup progresses. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy announced the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford – America’s largest warship – had arrived in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations, which encompasses most of Latin America.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Ford to proceed to the Caribbean from Europe late last month.
The strike group accompanying the Ford includes nine air squadrons, two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers – the USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan – the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill, and more than 4,000 sailors.
The U.S. has framed its build-up of forces in the region as focused on combating drug trafficking and the flow of drugs into the United States, and has carried out strikes on numerous alleged drug boats in recent weeks.
However, Caracas believes the U.S. is genuinely trying to instigate regime change and some Trump administration officials have privately conceded their strategy aims at removing Maduro.
Last month, Trump said he had authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela and he has previously suggested he was considering the possibility of strikes inside the country – though administration officials have since said the U.S. is not currently planning such action.
In his statement Tuesday, Padrino López framed the deployment of the Venezuelan forces as part of Maduro’s broader “Independence Plan 200” – a civic-military strategy aimed at mobilizing conventional military forces alongside militia and police forces to defend the country.
Venezuela’s conventional military, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, has around 123,000 members. Maduro has also claimed that his volunteer militias now have more than 8 million reservists, though experts have questioned that number as well as the quality of the troops’ training.
With the arrival of the Ford, there are estimated to be roughly 15,000 U.S. personnel in the region.
A significant percentage of all deployed U.S. naval assets were already in the region before the arrival of the Ford group, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, totaling more than 4,500 Marines and sailors, three guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine, a special operations ship, a guided missile cruiser, and P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.
At the same time, the U.S. has deployed 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico, which has become a hub for the U.S. military as part of the increased focus on the Caribbean. The U.S. has also deployed at least three MQ-9 Reaper drones to the island, according to images captured by Reuters in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Alongside the hardware, there are believed to be around 5,000 U.S. troops in Puerto Rico.
U.S. bombers have also flown several training missions near the Venezuelan coast, including a bomber “attack demonstration” in late October.
World Affairs Correspondent
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