Washington has deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela's coast, backed by F-35 fighters sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug operation.
"It is an undeclared war, and you can already see how people, whether or not they are drug traffickers, have been executed in the Caribbean Sea. Executed without the right to a defense," Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said as he attended a military exercise in response to the US "threat."
His remarks came just hours before US President Donald Trump announced another military strike on a boat, claiming three more alleged "narcoterrorists" were killed, bringing the total number of deaths in recent weeks to 17.
He did not say when the attack took place, and only specified that it occurred in the US Southern Command area of responsibility, which includes Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
The strikes have prompted debate over the legality of the killings, with drug trafficking itself not a capital offense under US law.
Washington has also not provided specific details to back up its claims that the boats targeted have actually been trafficking drugs.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab claimed that "the use of missiles and nuclear weapons to murder defenseless fishermen on a small boat are crimes against humanity that must be investigated by the UN."
The biggest US naval deployment in the Caribbean in decades has stoked fears the United States is planning to attack Venezuelan territory.
On Wednesday, Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat from a US flotilla of seven ships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
La Orchila is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.
- 'Imperial plan' -
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States does not recognize as legitimate and accuses of running a drug cartel, has urged citizens to join militia training to "defend the homeland."
Late Thursday, he announced that troops will provide residents of low-income neighborhoods with weapons training.
Maduro, for whom Washington has issued a $50 million bounty on drug trafficking charges, suspects the Trump administration of planning an invasion in pursuit.
Trump had said on Tuesday that US forces "knocked off" three boats crossing the Caribbean, but Washington only provided details and video footage of two of the strikes.
Maduro accused the United States of hatching "an imperial plan for regime change and to impose a US puppet government... to come and steal our oil."
He has repeatedly vowed Caracas will exercise its "legitimate right to defend itself" against US aggression.
Opposition figure Henrique Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate and staunch Maduro critic, said Friday he would not support any US invasion.
"I continue to believe that the solution is not military, but political," he said, adding that Trump's actions were counterproductive and "entrenching those in power."
He called for the release of nearly a thousand dissidents locked up under Maduro, and for the Venezuelan government to show goodwill in foreign relations.
Venezuela's Maduro says he wants dialogue with US
Caracas (AFP) Sept 21, 2025 - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected US allegations of being a drug trafficker and asked President Donald Trump for dialogue, according to a letter released Sunday by Caracas, as tensions soar between the two countries.
The letter addressed to Trump is dated September 6 and was sent days after the United States deployed warships off the coast of Venezuela and carried out the first of several attacks on Venezuela-based boats alleged by Washington to be carrying drugs.
That first attack left 11 people dead and two more strikes have followed, despite Maduro's letter with his plea for peace.
In the missive, Maduro -- whose July 2024 reelection was seen by the opposition and much of the international community as fraudulent -- rejected as "absolutely false" US allegations that he leads a drug cartel.
"It is the worst fake news that has been launched against our country in an escalation in an armed conflict that would do catastrophic damage to the whole continent," the letter states.
Maduro urged Trump to "keep the peace with dialogue and understanding in the entire hemisphere."
"President, I hope that together we can defeat this fake news that is filling with noise a relationship that should be historic and peaceful."
Maduro maintained that Venezuela was a "drug-free" country and that only five percent of the drugs produced in neighboring Colombia made their way onto Venezuelan territory.
"A very relevant fact is that this year we have already neutralized and destroyed more than 70 percent of that small percentage that attempts to cross that extensive border, more than 2,200 kilometers (1,300 miles) long, that we share with Colombia," he said.
- Ongoing operations -
Since the letter was sent, US forces in the Caribbean have attacked two more boats that Washington said were carrying drugs -- one off Venezuela and one further north, off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
This last attack was first announced Friday by Trump himself, without saying where it happened, and was confirmed Sunday by the drug enforcement agency of the Dominican Republic and the US embassy there.
The attack left three people dead.
The US military deployment has been widely denounced in Latin America, stoking fears that the United States is planning to attack Venezuela.
It involves eight warships and a nuclear-powered submarine sent to the southern Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela and 10 fighter jets sent to nearby Puerto Rico.
Venezuela has denounced the "military threat" against it following the deployment of the US ships. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lppez spoke of an "undeclared war" on Friday.
The US deployment has also prompted debate over the legality of the killings, with drug trafficking itself not a capital offense under US law.
The United States is attacking and destroying vessels rather than seizing them and arresting their crew, which is the normal procedure in anti-drug operations.
Venezuela offers military training to public amid Trump threats
Caracas (AFP) Sept 21, 2025 -
Venezuela on Saturday organized a day of military training for civilians in response to the US deployment in the Caribbean, and amid new threats from President Donald Trump.
Nearly a month ago, Washington deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela's coast, backed by F-35 fighters sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug and anti-terrorism operation.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused Washington of waging "undeclared war" in the Caribbean, after US strikes killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers off his country's coast.
Caracas also accused the United States of seeking regime change and stealing its oil and other resources.
In the crammed Petare neighborhood of Caracas, the main avenue was shut down for a day of mini-courses about weapons handling and other "revolutionary resistance" tactics.
"I'm here to learn what I need to learn to defend what is really important to me: my country, my homeland, my nation, Venezuela," said Luzbi Monterola, a 38-year-old office worker.
"I am afraid of nothing and no one."
- 'Oil, gold, diamonds' -
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro -- who stands accused by Washington of running a drug cartel -- has long sought to mobilize civilians in the escalating standoff.
The Petare neighborhood was once the launching point for protests against Maduro's reelection in July 2024, deemed fraudulent by the opposition and much of the international community.
After thousands of volunteers were summoned to military barracks last week for training, Maduro ordered the armed forces to go into the neighborhoods themselves.
But the show of force was subdued, with about 25 armored vehicles parading in the capital city and fewer trainees.
Maduro met with rural workers in the Aragua region on Saturday, calling on "millions" to "be prepared to take up arms and defend the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela if it were attacked by the American empire."
In Petare, soldiers taught volunteers in groups of 30 how to handle weapons. Other topics included how to wear masks, basic first aid, and "ideological thought."
Outside Caracas, training sessions took place in San Cristobal and Barinas, where turnout was also low, according to AFP correspondents.
"All of this is about oil, gold, diamonds -- our resources," said 16-year-old John Noriega, who came to the Petare event with his parents. "We will fight for what belongs to us."
On the coasts, fishing boats cruised alongside naval vessels, state television footage showed.
"Today is a milestone we are marking in the military revolution that we are all writing, the people and the Armed Forces together. It is a true military revolution!" said Lopez.
Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat from a US flotilla of seven ships and a nuclear-powered submarine.
- 'Incalculable' -
Trump warned Venezuela that it would face "incalculable" consequences if it refused to take back migrants he said it had "forced into the United States."
Repatriation of undocumented Venezuelans living in the United States has until now been one of the rare areas on which talks are ongoing, a diplomatic source told AFP.
On Friday, a US plane brought 185 Venezuelans back to Caracas, bringing to more than 13,000 the total number of repatriations since Trump returned to office in January.
Maduro's YouTube channel -- which carries most of his speeches -- vanished from the platform on Saturday. Officials in Caracas did not immediately comment.
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