In response to the U.S. naval presence, Caracas has announced the deployment of drones and warships along Venezuela’s coastline.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino stated in a video message on Tuesday that a fleet of large drones would monitor the Caribbean coast, while new warships will patrol the northern national waters.
Last week, the United States sent an amphibious unit of three warships near Venezuela as part of a Latin American anti-drug operation. On Monday, two additional vessels—a guided-missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered submarine—arrived in the Caribbean, deploying approximately 4,500 U.S. personnel, including 2,200 naval members.
Washington has accused President Nicolás Maduro and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of involvement in international drug trafficking. The U.S. has increased the reward for information on Maduro to $50 million and for Cabello to $25 million. Maduro, however, has dismissed the allegations as an attempt to destabilize his country.
In a televised address, he asserted that Venezuela does not produce coca or cocaine, and claimed the U.S. is blaming others for its domestic failure to control drug consumption. He added that 300,000 militia members and nearly 15,000 troops are deployed along the Venezuela-Colombia border to ensure national security.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan forces recently destroyed shipyards in the northeast used by criminals to build semi-submersibles and drug-transport vessels. Venezuela’s representative at the United Nations described the U.S. military presence as a serious threat to regional peace and security, condemning the deployment of a nuclear-powered submarine as a direct show of force.
Source: Al Jazeera