Supporters of the Chavista government of Venezuela gathered this Saturday at various points in Caracas to enlist in the Bolivarian National Militia (MNB) and urged the population to join the campaign called for by President Nicolás Maduro throughout the weekend, in response to the US patrol of ships in the Caribbean, near the coasts of the South American country, to combat drug trafficking.
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In Bolívar Square in Caracas, located a couple of blocks from Miraflores Palace, the seat of the Government, the EFE agency was able to confirm that a large number of citizens attended the event.
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One of the attendees was Jorge Navas, a member of the “Resistance and Rebellion” collective, who told EFE that this is a duty of every “patriot” in a current “scenario,” which he described as a “cognitive war.”
“This is a town that understood that there is a common enemy here and that they must prepare themselves and get ready and be at the service if they have to defend this in a war scenario,” Navas himself stated. He then added that Chavismo has “enough experience” in “the integral defense of the homeland,” so he added that his supporters will go “to the front in whatever scenario it may be.”
Another participant in the event, Aidee Romero, who claimed to be the head of a Hugo Chávez Battle Unit (UBCH), also called on citizens to defend the territory regardless of ideology. “We ask every Venezuelan to love their country, no matter if they do not share our own ideology, and not allow the country to be tarnished,” she expressed.
Why did Maduro order the mobilization of the militia?
The Bolivarian National Militia is a corps of volunteer civilians created in 2009 by the late President Hugo Chávez and officially incorporated into the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) 11 years later.
According to images from VTV, the process also took place in squares in various states of Venezuela, including Lara, Bolívar, Táchira, Trujillo, Sucre, and La Guaira.
Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino, urged on Saturday not to “fall into nervousness” regarding the enlistment day. According to the military chief, today’s event is “a mobilization of the people, voluntary, to register in a very powerful body created by the Bolivarian revolution,” and he assured that it is “spread throughout the national territory.”
Last Monday, Maduro ordered the deployment of 4.5 million militiamen throughout the country, after the United States increased the reward to 50 million dollars for information leading to his capture.
In turn, Reuters reported that the destroyers USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson were en route to waters in the Caribbean “close to Venezuela.” The deployment also included approximately 4,000 sailors and Marines, several P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and at least one attack submarine.
In response to this movement, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that the United States is prepared to “use all its power” to stop the “flow of drugs into its country”, which would include sending ships and soldiers to waters near Venezuela.