Venezuela’s Interior Minister Urges People to Prepare for Armed Struggle
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Al Mayadeen, Venezuela’s Interior Minister urged citizens to be ready for armed struggle if it arises.
Two days earlier, on September 5, venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro emphasized that his country will engage in armed resistance if attacked.
“While Venezuela is still in a stage of non-violent struggle,” he said, “any attack will trigger a response from the entire population against aggression-whether local, regional, or national.”
The president also denied allegations about drug production in Venezuela. “No cocaine is produced here; that is an American lie-just like their false claim Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (which served as a pretext for invasion). They are lying about Caracas too,” he stated.
This comes after Maduro previously announced a call-up of over eight million citizens as part of the Bolivarian National Militia, amid rising tensions with the United States following increased U.S. military presence in the Caribbean Sea.
During a televised meeting with government officials and military leaders broadcast on Venezuelan state TV, Maduro noted that “a powerful base of 4.5 million well-trained militia members has been summoned,” and more than eight million registered national militia members will join them.
He described this mobilization as an effort to strengthen logistical and organizational capabilities to ensure security and defend Venezuela against internal and external threats. He stressed that this call-up marks the first step in an ongoing process to prepare popular forces.
Tensions escalated recently when two F-16 fighter jets from Maduro’s government flew over a U.S. Navy destroyer stationed off Caribbean shores following washington’s deployment under the pretext of combating Venezuelan drug cartels.