Maduro vows to declare a “republic in arms” if U.S. forces in the Caribbean attack Venezuela

Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro said on Monday that he “would constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if the South American country was attacked by forces that the The US government has deployed in the Caribbean.

Maduro said eight American military ships “with 1,200 missiles” was aimed at his country, calling them “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the past 100 years,” AFP reported.

His comments at a press conference take place while the United States government this week should increase his Maritime force in water off Venezuela To combat threats from Latin American drug cartels. The United States has not pointed out any land incursion provided by the thousands of staff. However, the Maduro government has replied in deployment of troops Along its coast and its border with neighboring Colombia, as well as urging the Venezuelans to enlist in a civil militia.

“Faced with this maximum military pressure, we declared a maximum preparation for the defense of Venezuela,” said Maduro about deployment, which he called “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody” threat “.

The American navy now has two destroyers of guided missiles AEGIS – USS gravely and USS Jason Dunham – in the Caribbean, as well as the Destroyer Uss Sampson and the cruiser USS LAKE ERIE In waters off Latin America. This military presence should develop.

Three amphibious assault vessels – a force that includes more than 4,000 naval and marine – is said to be in the region this week, a defense official at the Associated Press, anonymity condition to describe current operations, told the in progress.

The deployment comes as President Trump prompted the military to thwart the cartels he blamed for the fentanyl flow and other illicit drugs in American communities and to perpetuate violence in certain American cities.

Washington accused Maduro of having directed a drug cartel and A doubled the premium For its capture at $ 50 million. However, the United States did not threaten the public to invade Venezuela.

Mr. Trump led the Pentagon Use military force Against the Latin American drug cartels considered to be terrorist organizations, a familiar source with the affirmed case at CBS News earlier this month.

On the eight Latin American drug trafficking groups that the Trump administration has appointed as terrorist organizationsOne is Venezuelan. It is not clear if or when the army could act.

On Monday, the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, citing a United Nations report, told his counterparts in various countries in Latin America that the deployment of American maritime forces is built on a “false story”, because 87% of the cocaine produced in Colombia leaves through the Pacific and the traffickers try to move only 5% of their product by Venezuela. Bolivia without coastal and Colombia, with access to the Pacific and the Caribbean, are the best cocaine producers in the world.

Gil added that the story “threatens the whole region” and an attack on Venezuela “would really mean complete destabilization of the region”.

“Let us immediately demand the end of this deployment, which has no other reason than to threaten a sovereign people,” he added at a virtual meeting of members of the community of the Regional Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Maduro also used his press conference to emphasize the fact that he was the legitimate winner of the presidential election last year. But many credible evidence has shown the opposite, which has prompted several countries, including the United States, not to recognize Maduro as president of Venezuela.

Maduro, sworn in a third six -year term in January, added that his government maintains two communication lines with the Trump administration, one with the State Department and another with Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell. He called Secretary of State Marco Rubio a “warlord” pushing for action in the Caribbean to overthrow the government of Venezuela.

Since the presidential election of July 2024, the political opposition of Venezuela has urged the United States and other countries to put pressure on Maduro to leave its functions. Her chief, María Corina Machado, thanked Trump and Rubio for the deployment of ships, describing the decision as “the right approach” to the government of Venezuela, which she described as a “criminal enterprise”.

Maduro on Monday, however, warned that the American military action against Venezuela “would stick” Mr. Trump’s “blood hands”.

“President Donald Trump, the continuation of the regime change is exhausted; she has failed as a policy worldwide,” said Maduro. “You cannot pretend to impose a situation in Venezuela.”