Venezuela orders military mobilization as US aircraft carriers near its coast
Venezuela announced on Tuesday what it called a major nationwide military deployment, including almost 200,000 soldiers, to counter the US naval aircraft carrier ships approaching the region
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has entered waters near Latin America, eliciting a strong response from Venezuela, which announced the mobilization of the country’s entire military, including nearly 200,000 soldiers.
The arrival of the US ships has heightened existing concerns over the Trump administration’s potential intentions to escalate its counternarcotics campaign in the region.
"These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and to degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organizations," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The US Navy said in a news release that the Ford and its three accompanying warships arrived in the region on Tuesday and have come under the authority of US Southern Command — a vast area that includes parts of the Atlantic Ocean and drug smuggling routes in the Pacific used by cartels based in Colombia and Ecuador.
The development adds pressure to existing tensions in Washington, which have been building since President Donald Trump began hinting at possible regime change in Venezuela after authorizing alleged anti-narcotics strikes on boats in the Caribbean — actions critics claim are illegal.
Trump has previously hinted to the possibility of ground operations in Venezuela, saying "the land is going to be next." He later denied he was considering strikes inside Venezuela.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said in a statement on Tuesday that the country is preparing to reach its highest level of military alert amid rising tensions with the US.
The goal is to place "the entire country’s military arsenal on full operational readiness," Padrino López said. This includes "massive deployment of ground, aerial, naval, riverine, and missile forces," with the participation of all security branches and militia, according to the defense minister.
López also said on national television that Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, ordered the deployment of "almost 200,000" soldiers as part of the special operation.
An ally to US-opposing Iran, China and Russia, Venezuela is deploying weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, in preperation for mounting a guerrilla-style resistance in the event of a US air or ground attack, according to sources cited by Reuters.