The Venezuelan Armed Forces have begun three days of military exercises on the Caribbean island of La Orchila amid increased U.S. military buildup in the region and escalating threats against President Nicolás Maduro.
The exercise, ordered by Maduro as commander-in-chief and dubbed “Sovereign Caribbean 200,” was announced by Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López on September 18. It will reportedly involve the deployment of 2,500 troops, 12 naval ships, 22 aircraft, and 20 small boats.
“There will be air defense deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones … We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” the minister said.
He added that the operation is a response to “the threatening and vulgar deployment of U.S. ships in the Caribbean,” which Venezuelan leaders consider “a threat to the country and the region.”
On Sunday, the US destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) occupied a Venezuelan tuna fishing vessel crewed by nine fishermen in the country’s special economic zone, according to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
The vessels and warships deployed from the military base at La Orchila Island on Thursday, near the area where the US Navy boarded the fishing vessel.
Earlier this month, US forces blew up a boat in the Caribbean, killing 14 people. US President Donald Trump claimed the boat was carrying drugs and that President Maduro was the leader of the cartel.
Maduro rejected accusations of involvement in drug trafficking, stating, “Those intelligence reports they give him (Trump) are not true.” “Venezuela today is a country free from coca leaf production, cocaine, and is a country that fights against drug trafficking.”
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado also reacted to the accusations, saying: “One doesn’t know, because they say it carried drugs, but who saw the drugs?”
Cabello told reporters that Venezuelan authorities are cracking down on the drug trade and have seized more than 60 tons of drugs in 2025. “It is the largest amount that has been seized since 2010,” he said.
The attack was condemned by UN experts, who stated that international law does not allow governments to simply assassinate suspected drug traffickers.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR and AFP ]
