With eye on U.S. threat, Venezuela holds Caribbean military exercises

Venezuelan Bolivarian Army soldiers stand guard at the Tienditas International Bridge that links Colombia and Venezuela, near Urena, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Venezuela said Wednesday it had begun three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila as tensions soar amid US military activity in the region.

Forces deployed for what Washington called an anti-drug operation have blown up at least two Venezuelan boats and a combined 14 people allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean this month -- a move slammed as “extrajudicial execution” by UN experts.

The strikes and a deployment of U.S. warships in the region have raised fears of an invasion in Venezuela, whose President Nicolas Maduro Washington accuses of being a cartel leader. The exercise ordered by Maduro as commander-in-chief was baptized “Sovereign Caribbean,” Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Wednesday.

“There will be air defence deployments with armed drones, surveillance drones, submarine drones... We are going to implement electronic warfare actions,” he added, citing the “threatening, vulgar voice” of the United States.

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 will involve 12 ships, 22 aircraft and 20 small boats from the “Special Naval Militia.”

La Orchila island is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.

Maduro, whose last two elections the U.S. and many other countries did not recognize, has vowed Caracas would defend itself against what he labeled U.S. “aggression” against his country.

Washington is offering a $50 million bounty for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.

‘Who saw the drugs?’

Venezuela has urged an investigation of a U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat early this month that killed 11 people.

It was one of three Venezuelan vessels U.S. 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?” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said earlier Wednesday as he claimed Venezuela is cracking down on narcotics.

Cabello told reporters that officials have seized over 60 tonnes (about 66 U.S. tons) of drugs so far this year.

“It is the largest amount that has been seized since 2010,” said Cabello, who like Maduro and other senior officials is under U.S. sanctions.

Trump has justified taking military action by saying “violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to US National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital US Interests.”

The U.S. government has released videos of two of the boat strikes and claims it has irrefutable evidence the people killed were U.S.-bound traffickers.

It has not provided details to back up those claims. Drug trafficking is not a capital offense under U.S. law.

Caracas has consistently denied being a trafficking hub.