(CNN) — Venezuela says it is launching a “massive mobilization” of military personnel, weapons and equipment in response to the build-up of U.S. warships and troops in the Caribbean Sea.
Land, air, naval and reserve forces will carry out exercises through Wednesday, according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who described the deployment as a response to the “imperialist threat” posed by the U.S. build-up.
In addition to regular military units, the exercises will involve the Bolivarian Militia – a reserve force made up of civilians that was created by the late President Hugo Chávez and is named after Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary who secured the independence of numerous Latin American countries from Spain.
Padrino López, who attributed the order directly to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, said the objective of the exercise was to “optimize command, control and communications” and ensure the defense of the country.
The move comes amid increasing tension between the two countries as the U.S. build-up continues. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy announced the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford – America’s largest warship – had arrived in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations, which includes most of Latin America.
The U.S. has framed its build-up of forces in the region as aimed at combating drug trafficking and the flow of drugs into the United States, and has carried out strikes on numerous alleged drug boats in recent weeks.
However, Caracas believes the U.S. is really trying to force regime change and some Trump administration officials have privately conceded their strategy is aimed at removing Maduro.
Last month, Trump said he had authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela and he has previously suggested he was weighing the possibility of strikes inside the country – though administration officials have since said the U.S. is not currently planning such action.
In his statement Tuesday, Padrino López framed the deployment of the Venezuelan forces as part of Maduro’s wider “Independence Plan 200” – a civic-military strategy aimed at mobilizing conventional military forces alongside militia and police forces to defend the country.
Venezuela’s conventional military, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, has some 123,000 members. Maduro has also claimed that his volunteer militias now have more than 8 million reservists, though experts have called into question that number as well as the quality of the troops’ training.
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