US naval buildup in Caribbean draws fiery response from Venezuela’s Maduro
The US says it aims to counter Latin American drug cartels, but Venezuela’s president condemns American naval presence as an ‘extravagant’ threat
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday said he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if the South American country were attacked by forces that the United States government has deployed to the Caribbean.
His comments during a rare news conference come as the US government this week was set to boost its maritime force in the waters off Venezuela to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels.
The US has not signaled any planned land incursion by the thousands of personnel being deployed. Still, Maduro’s government has responded by deploying troops along its coast and border with neighbouring Colombia, as well as by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.
“In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defence of Venezuela,” Maduro said of the deployment, which he characterised as “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat”.
The US Navy now has two Aegis guided-missile destroyers - the USS Gravely and the USS Jason Dunham - in the Caribbean, as well as the destroyer USS Sampson and the cruiser USS Lake Erie in the waters off Latin America. That military presence was set to expand.