Caracas [Venezuela], September 2: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of seeking regime change in the South American country by deploying naval forces in the Caribbean.
"They are trying to change the regime through military threats," Venezuelan President Maduro told reporters, officials and military officials in Caracas on September 1.
"Venezuela is facing the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years. A situation like this has never happened before," Reuters quoted Mr. Maduro as saying.
The Venezuelan leader said eight US warships with 1,200 missiles and a submarine "are targeting Venezuela." Mr Maduro stressed that the country remained peaceful and would not succumb to threats, adding that the Venezuelan military was "always prepared."
The Venezuelan president said that about 8 million people have signed up to join the reserve force. Caracas also announced earlier that it would increase patrols in its territorial waters. He affirmed that Venezuela was ready for "an armed struggle phase to defend the national territory" in case of attack, according to AFP.
Last week, Venezuela asked the United Nations to intervene and demand that the US "immediately stop its military deployment in the Caribbean Sea".
The US has not commented on President Maduro's statement.
Tensions between the US and Venezuela have increased in recent weeks as Washington beefs up its naval forces in the southern Caribbean and surrounding waters to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.
Accordingly, US Coast Guard and Navy ships regularly operate in the Southern Caribbean. This deployment is considered to be significantly larger than usual in the region. According to Reuters, it is still unclear how the US military presence will prevent drug trafficking.
In early August, the Trump administration accused Maduro of "leading" a drug cartel and doubled the reward to $50 million for the Venezuelan leader's capture. Caracas denied the accusation.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's 2023 Global Report on Cocaine , the majority of maritime drug trafficking to the United States comes via the Pacific, not the Atlantic, and most of the drugs that reach the United States via the Caribbean are via clandestine flights.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
