USA and Venezuela: What we know about the escalation of tensions between the countries

The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, announced on Monday (18) the dispatch of 4.5 million militiamen throughout the country, stating that ‘no empire will touch the sacred ground of Venezuela’ and downplaying the ‘threats to peace’ in the country. This move comes after the United States doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of the president and increased the number of troops mobilized in Latin America and the Caribbean. Last week, the US government confirmed to CNN that it had ordered the movement of naval ships in the region to counter the threat posed by drug trafficking groups. Reuters reported this week that three US Navy warships and about 4,000 troops would arrive in Venezuelan territorial waters within the next 36 hours. However, a Department of Defense official responded on Tuesday (19) that there are currently no American vessels in the area and that the ships have not been ordered to proceed there. Venezuela has approximately 4,000 kilometers of coastline.