Venezuela announces “massive mobilization” of military forces after the US sends the world’s largest warship to the region

Measure comes in the context of growing tension between the two countries

Venezuela says it is launching a “massive mobilization” of military personnel, weapons and equipment in response to the increase in the number of US warships and troops in the Caribbean Sea.

Land, air, naval and reserve forces will hold exercises until Wednesday, according to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who described the mobilization as a response to the “imperialist threat” posed by the US reinforcement.

In addition to regular military units, the exercises will involve the Bolivarian Militia – a reserve force made up of civilians that was created by President Hugo Chávez, now deceased, and named after Simon Bolívar, the revolutionary who ensured the independence of numerous Latin American countries from Spain.

Padrino López, who attributed the order directly to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, said the objective of the exercise was to “optimize command, control and communications” and guarantee the country’s defense.

The move comes in the context of growing tension between the two countries as US reinforcements continue. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy announced that the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford — the largest U.S. warship — had arrived in the U.S. Southern Command area of ​​operations, which includes most of Latin America.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the Ford to move from Europe to the Caribbean late last month.

The strike group accompanying the Ford brings with it nine air squadrons, two Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers – the USS Bainbridge and the USS Mahan – the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill and more than 4,000 Navy personnel.

The United States has framed its reinforcement of forces in the region as aiming to combat drug trafficking and the flow of drugs into the United States, having carried out attacks on numerous vessels allegedly carrying drugs in recent weeks.

However, Caracas believes the US is actually trying to force regime change and some Trump administration officials have privately admitted that their strategy is aimed at removing Maduro.

Last month, Trump said he had authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela and had previously suggested he was considering attacks inside the country – although administration officials have since said that the US is not currently planning such action.

In his Tuesday statement, Padrino López framed the deployment of Venezuelan forces as part of Maduro’s “Independence Plan 200” — a civic-military strategy aimed at mobilizing conventional military forces alongside militias and police forces to defend the country.

Venezuela’s conventional army, the Bolivarian National Armed Force, has about 123,000 members. Maduro also stated that his volunteer militias now have more than 8 million reservists, although experts have questioned that number, as well as the quality of the troops’ training.

With Ford’s arrival, it is estimated that there are around 15,000 American troops in the region.

A significant percentage of all deployed US naval assets were already in the region before the arrival of the Ford group, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, totaling more than 4,500 Marines and soldiers, three guided missile destroyers, an attack submarine, a special operations ship, a guided missile cruiser and P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.

At the same time, the US sent 10 F-35 fighters to Puerto Rico, which became a hub for the US armed forces as part of the growing attention given to the Caribbean. The US also sent at least three MQ-9 reaper drones to the island, according to images captured by Reuters in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In addition to equipment, there are thought to be around 5,000 American troops in Puerto Rico.

American bombers also flew several training missions near the Venezuelan coast, including a bomber “strike demonstration” in late October.

CNN’s Haley Britzky contributed to this report.