Venezuela has deployed nearly 200,000 soldiers in response to the United States sending its largest aircraft carrier to the region.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said officials were positioning the country’s “military arsenal on full operational readiness,” including deployments of “ground, aerial, naval, riverine and missile forces.”
The effort is part of an effort to address “imperialist threats.”
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility on November 11. The move follows War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to follow through on dismantling criminal networks.
According to the announcement, the carrier strike group will bolster the joint forces already in the region, including the Two Jima Amphibious Ready Group.
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” said Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro warned on September 2 that any U.S. military attack on his country would trigger an immediate “armed struggle.”
During a recent interview with 60 Minutes, President Trump stated that Maduro’s days in power are “numbered,” although he emphasized he does not expect Venezuela and the United States to go to war. When asked if he believed Maduro’s presidency was nearing an end, Trump said, “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.” When pressed on whether military conflict was likely, the president responded, “I doubt it. I don’t think so.”
