Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to “outlandish threats” by the United States after Washington raised the bounty 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 announced on state television.
Official figures say the Venezuelan militia, founded by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez, contains about 5 million people — though the actual number is believed to be smaller.
Venezuela’s total population is around 30 million.
Maduro lambasted “the renewal of extravagant, bizarre, and outlandish threats” from the U.S.
The administration of President Donald Trump earlier this month doubled its bounty to $50 million for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.
Washington, which does not recognize Maduro’s past two election victories, accuses the Venezuelan of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration announced sanctions against the group and Maduro’s administration last month.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump directed the military to target drug cartels in Latin America, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
The U.S. military has also reportedly deployed several vessels to the southern Caribbean, as part of Mr. Trump’s crackdown on Latin American drug cartels. Two sources briefed on the matter told the Reuters news agency that three U.S. destroyers will arrive off the coast of Venezuela soon.
“We are also deployed throughout the Caribbean…in our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
Although he did not mention the recent U.S. actions specifically, Maduro thanked those who expressed their support in the face of what he called “rotten refrain” of threats.
Maduro called on his government’s political base to move forward with the formation of peasant and worker militias “in all industries.”
“Rifles and missiles for the peasant force! To defend the territory, sovereignty, and peace of Venezuela,” declared Maduro.
Last September, the U.S. seized a plane belonging to Maduro and brought it to the U.S., with the Justice Department claiming the jet was exported from Florida in violation of U.S. sanctions.
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