Venezuela announced the start of three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila, as regional tensions escalate in response to increased US military activity nearby.
The exercise ordered by Maduro as commander-in-chief was baptised “Sovereign Caribbean”, said the defence minister, Vladimir Padrino López, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“There will be air defence deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones ... We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” he said on Wednesday, citing the “threatening, vulgar voice” of the US.
Public television showed images of amphibious vessels and warships deployed off La Orchila, where Venezuela has a military base.
The armed forces said the exercises would involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats from the “special naval militia”.
La Orchila island is close to the area where the US intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
Maduro, whose last two elections were not recognised by the US and many other countries, has vowed that Caracas will defend itself against what he labelled US “aggression” against his country.
Washington is offering a $50m bounty for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.
Venezuela has urged an investigation of a US strike on an alleged drug boat early this month that killed 11 people.
It was one of three Venezuelan vessels the US president, Donald Trump, said his country had “knocked off” without providing details.
“One doesn’t know, because they say it carried drugs but who saw the drugs?”, the interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said earlier on Wednesday as he claimed Venezuela was cracking down on narcotics.
News.Az
