CARACAS, Dec 7 — The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 new soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Marudo has called for stepped-up military recruitment as the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on at least 22 vessels, killing at least 83.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged Cartel of the Suns, which it declared a terrorist organisation last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Colonel Gabriel Alejandro Rendon Vilchez said Saturday during the ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
Also Saturday, a former opposition governor died in prison where he had detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz, 55, was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela. — AFP
