Caracas Accuses Washington of ‘Criminal Threat’
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the United States on Monday of making an “absolutely criminal, bloody threat” against his government, claiming eight US warships bearing over 1,200 missiles and a submarine were now directed at Venezuela. Addressing foreign media in Caracas, Maduro referred to the move as the “greatest threat on our continent in the past 100 years.”
The US has long castigated Maduro as a narco-trafficking regime and recently deployed a significant naval force in the southern Caribbean under an anti-drug trafficking operation. Although Washington has not indicated any explicit military threat against Venezuela, the magnitude of the operation has raised concern in Caracas.
Naval Deployment Raises Regional Alarm
US ships, including the USS San Antonio, the USS Iwo Jima, and the USS Fort Lauderdale, have arrived in the Caribbean with 4,500 personnel aboard, including 2,200 Marines. The US military is also flying P-8 surveillance planes to track suspected cartel activity. Washington officials have linked the mission to wider attempts to break up Latin American drug cartels that were declared global terrorist organizations earlier this year.
Albeit those allegations, Maduro continues to assert the deployment is all part of a scheme aimed at destabilizing his administration, already reeling from economic sanctions and political isolation. He cautioned US President Donald Trump that allies like Senator Marco Rubio were nudging him toward a “bloodbath” that would ultimately result in a slaughter of Venezuelans.
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Venezuela Mobilizes in Response
In response to what it terms an overt military threat, Caracas said it would patrol territorial waters and mobilize over four million militia members. Maduro declared Venezuela to be at “maximum readiness” to defend itself. He also regretted the breakdown of communications with Washington, saying Venezuela “will never give in to blackmail nor threats of any kind.
The US, doubling its reward on Maduro to $50 million, has also rejected any intention of invading. While American naval patrols in the area are routine, the size of the current buildup is unprecedented, and this is taken as an indication both of a demonstration of force and increased tensions.
For the moment, the standoff provides a dangerous dimension to strained US-Venezuela relations, with Maduro presenting the deployment as a historic danger and Washington positioning it as a necessary blow against transnational crime.
