Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has issued a fiery warning after claiming that eight U.S. military vessels, armed with 1,200 missiles and a submarine, are targeting Venezuela.
Speaking at a press conference in Caracas, Maduro declared a state of “maximum readiness to defend” the country against what he described as the “greatest threat to the continent in 100 years.”
The United States recently deployed warships to the southern Caribbean as part of an anti-drug trafficking operation, but Washington has made no formal invasion threat. One of the ships, a guided-missile cruiser, was spotted transiting the Panama Canal into the Caribbean late Friday.
Maduro said that over eight million Venezuelans have enlisted as reservists and vowed the country would never “give in to blackmail or threats of any kind.” Caracas has also increased patrols of its territorial waters in response.
Tensions escalated further after Washington doubled its bounty on Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of drug trafficking and election fraud.
The rhetoric also spilled into Venezuela’s long-standing border dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo region. Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali welcomed the U.S. deployment, calling it necessary for regional security, while Caracas insisted the move was provocative.
At the same press event, Maduro accused U.S. officials of plotting a “bloodbath” and warned that Venezuela was prepared for an “armed struggle” if attacked. Analysts, however, say a direct invasion remains unlikely and see the U.S. deployment as a pressure tactic rather than an imminent military strike.
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