Maduro mobilizes militia after U.S. raises bounty

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced he will deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to what he called US “threats,” after Washington doubled the bounty for his arrest and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean.

The Trump administration raised the reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million, accusing him of leading a cocaine trafficking gang, Cartel de los Soles. Washington has long refused to recognize his last two electoral victories

“This week, I will activate a special plan with more than 4.5 million militiamen to ensure coverage of the entire national territory. Militias that are prepared, activated, and armed,” Maduro declared on state television.

Official figures claim Venezuela’s militia, created by the late Hugo Chávez, has around five million members, though independent estimates suggest it has fewer. Venezuela’s population stands at about 28.5 million.

The United States last month also imposed fresh sanctions on Maduro’s government and has since deployed naval vessels to the southern Caribbean as part of its crackdown on drug cartels.

“We are also deployed throughout the Caribbean. In our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.

Maduro, meanwhile, rallied his political base with a call to arms.

“Rifles and missiles for the peasant force! To defend the territory, sovereignty, and peace of Venezuela,” he said.