Venezuelans Join Militia Training Amid Fears Of US Actions

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

THOUSANDS of Venezuelans are joining militia training in response to President Maduro’s call, amid fears of potential US intervention.

Congress News Nigeria reports that over the weekend, volunteers flocked to military camps in and around Caracas to learn how to handle and fire weapons amid heightened anti-American rhetoric and the presence of US warships in the region. Many arrived in sportswear or replica military kit and wore insignia of their workplaces or political groups.

At Fuerte Tiuna, the sprawling military complex in the capital, buses and cars delivered new recruits for basic instruction. A tank bearing the slogan “Independence or Nothing” stood near a shooting range as officers urged volunteers to prepare for combat. “I need committed people ready to take up the rifle and face our enemies,” one officer told the gathered recruits, warning that the training would not resemble the street protests that followed last year’s disputed election.

Participants described a mixture of patriotic fervour and genuine fear. “If the Americans come with their war machines … we will greet them with lead,” said Pedro Arias, a 62-year-old volunteer in Caracas. A 16-year-old member of the pro-government movement Futuro said she had enrolled “to defend ourselves against the gringos,” while a 54-year-old lawyer working for a government foundation told reporters she was learning weapons handling and tactics “to defend my country”.

The mobilisation comes as relations between Washington and Caracas have reached new lows. The United States has deployed a naval task force into Caribbean waters in what it says are counter-narcotics operations, and earlier this month US forces struck an alleged drug vessel in the southern Caribbean, an action that Caracas says killed 11 people. Venezuela has accused US personnel of detaining a local fishing boat in its exclusive economic zone, allegations the US has not publicly corroborated.

Mr Maduro has reinforced troop deployments along the Caribbean coast and the Colombian border and has urged civilians to enrol in militias affiliated with the armed forces. Venezuelan authorities say the militia complements the regular military, with specialised publications estimating hundreds of thousands of militiamen in addition to professional soldiers. At training sites recruits practised on AK-47s and pistols and were given classroom instruction on historical US interventions in the region.

Critics warn that the mass mobilisation risks militarising civil life and may be used to shore up the government’s grip on power. Supporters say it is a necessary measure to protect sovereignty in the face of what they describe as an imminent threat from Washington. Either way, the surge in enlistments underscores how deeply the confrontation with the United States has penetrated Venezuelan society.