Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has launched a “massive mobilization” of military personnel, weapons and equipment in order to “optimize command, control and communications” and ensure the defense of the country just as the US took the major step of sailing the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier into the Caribbean, amid an already unprecedented build-up.
The mobilization goes beyond the regular armed forces, but includes the Bolivarian Militia, a reserve force comprised of civilians established by the late President Hugo Chávez. This is a much celebrated ‘revolutionary force’ against the ‘imperialist powers’.
The Venezuelans do have reason to be paranoid, given President Trump starting months ago authorized the resumption of CIA covert operations in the Latin American country.
Additionally, the arrival of the USS Ford carrier and at least three of its escorting warships brings the total number of American troops in the region to 15,000.
Padrino López, who has the official title of Minister of People’s Power for Defense of Venezuela, described the mobilization as part of Maduro’s “Independence Plan 200” – which seeks to coordinate the military and civic response on a large-scale, including to defend the coasts.
Venezuela’s military does have surface-launched Russian missiles among others; however, recent photos and videos of civilian militia ‘training camps’ show low-tech and derelict weaponry (or also no weaponry at all).
Maduro has recently touted a volunteer militia ‘reserve’ force of some 8 million citizens – though again most of these are likely not even equipped with weaponry or much actual training.
But his regular armed forces are commonly estimated at less than 150,000 – which is low in comparison with most global militaries. According to The Washington Post:
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said Tuesday in a statement that Venezuela is preparing to set a maximum level of alert amid rising tensions with the U.S.
The objective is to place “the entire country’s military arsenal on full operational readiness,” Padrino López said. The preparations include “massive deployment of ground, aerial, naval, riverine and missile forces” with the participation of all security forces and militia.
We previously wrote that the clock is ticking on Washington’s looming anti-Maduro action – as the aircraft carrier finally arrived in Caribbean waters Tuesday after Trump ordered it to depart the Mediterranean where it was on a scheduled patrol.
President Maduro has from at least September been touring an army of “millions”, but…
🇻🇪 From grandmothers to students, the people of Venezuela are training with rifles, not for war but to defend their land.
As U.S. pressure mounts in the South Caribbean, nationwide militias are forming under government guidance. These aren’t just military drills. This is mass… pic.twitter.com/zWX4CL49LY
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) September 24, 2025
A commander-in-chief doesn’t typically spend weeks and even months building up dozens of naval assets and 10,000-15,000 troops in typically uneventful waters like the Caribbean, unless he intends to do something big. To wit, Trump’s June strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities included a fraction of the Caribbean buildup.
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