Venezuela on Saturday organized a day of military training for civilians in response to the US deployment in the Caribbean, and amid new threats from US President Donald Trump.
About a month ago, Washington deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35 jets sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug and anti-terrorism operation.
Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused Washington of waging “undeclared war” in the Caribbean, after US strikes killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers off his country’s coast.
Photo: AFP
Caracas also accused the US of seeking regime change, and stealing its oil and other resources.
In the crammed Petare neighborhood of Caracas, the main avenue was shut down for a day of mini-courses about weapons handling and other “revolutionary resistance” tactics.
“I’m here to learn what I need to learn to defend what is really important to me: my country, my homeland, my nation, Venezuela,” said Luzbi Monterola, a 38-year-old office worker.
“I am afraid of nothing and no one,” Monterola said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — who stands accused by Washington of running a drug cartel — has long sought to mobilize civilians in the escalating standoff.
The Petare neighborhood was once the launching point for protests against Maduro’s re-election in July last year, deemed fraudulent by the opposition and much of the international community.
After thousands of volunteers were summoned to military barracks last week for training, Maduro ordered the armed forces to go into the neighborhoods themselves.
However, the show of force was subdued, with about 25 armored vehicles parading in the capital city and fewer trainees.
Maduro on Saturday met with rural workers in the Aragua region, calling on “millions” to “be prepared to take up arms and defend the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela if it were attacked by the American empire.”
In Petare, soldiers taught volunteers in groups of 30 how to handle weapons. Other topics included how to wear masks, basic first aid and “ideological thought.”
Outside Caracas, training sessions took place in San Cristobal and Barinas, where turnout was also low.
“All of this is about oil, gold, diamonds — our resources,” said 16-year-old John Noriega, who came to the Petare event with his parents. “We will fight for what belongs to us.”
On the coasts, fishing boats cruised alongside naval vessels, state television footage showed.
“Today is a milestone we are marking in the military revolution that we are all writing, the people and the armed forces together. It is a true military revolution,” Lopez said.
Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat from a US flotilla of seven ships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
Trump warned Venezuela that it would face “incalculable” consequences if it refused to take back migrants he said it had “forced into the United States.”
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