Venezuela has 5,000 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles in “key air defense positions,” its President Nicolás Maduro claimed on Wednesday, amid rising stress over the United States’ military deployment within the Caribbean.
US President Donald Trump has mentioned he’s weighing military action inside Venezuela as half of a counter-drug trafficking marketing campaign and a broader effort to weaken Maduro, a longtime foe of Washington.
“Any military force in the world knows the power of the Igla-S and Venezuela has no less than 5,000” of them, Maduro mentioned throughout an occasion with military personnel broadcast by Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
The Russian Igla-S missiles are short-range, low-altitude programs just like American Stingers. They can shoot down small aerial targets such as cruise missiles and drones, as nicely as helicopters and low-flying planes.
Maduro mentioned the missiles, gentle sufficient to be carried by a single soldier, had been deployed “even in the last mountain, the last town, and the last city of the territory.”
The US has deployed 4,500 Marines and sailors to the Caribbean to strengthen operations towards cartels and reveal military energy. It has carried out a number of deadly strikes on boats off the Caribbean coast that it alleges have been trafficking narcotics.
Lawmakers from each events within the US have questioned the legality of the strikes on the alleged “narco boats.”
Last week, Trump mentioned he had licensed the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela and mentioned the US was contemplating increasing its military marketing campaign to land, as half of an intensifying US stress marketing campaign that officers say is geared toward ousting Maduro.
“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” the president instructed reporters.
The Trump administration has been quietly laying the groundwork for potential military action inside Venezuela for months, by tying Maduro to drug traffickers and cartels that officers have designated as terror teams who pose an imminent menace to the US. But so far, there is no such thing as a indication that Trump has determined to take that step or goal the Venezuelan chief instantly.
Instead, the objective has been to stress Maduro to step down on his personal, sources instructed NCS, partly by establishing a reputable menace of US military action if he doesn’t.
Maduro has been responding by repositioning troops, mobilizing “millions” of militia members and denouncing US exercise within the area.
The folks of Venezuela are “clear, united, and aware,” Maduro mentioned in a televised speech final week.
“They have the means to once again defeat this open conspiracy against the peace and stability of Venezuela.”
Maduro has claimed that his volunteer militias now have greater than 8 million reservists, although consultants have referred to as into query that quantity as nicely as the standard of the troops’ coaching.
According to Rosoboronexport, the Russian state firm that exports Igla-S programs, they’ve a spread of as much as 6,000 meters and might attain targets at a most altitude of 3,500 meters.
NCS has not been capable of independently confirm the quantity of Igla-S missiles cited by Maduro, however they have been identified to be half of Venezuela’s arsenal, based on the military stability compiled by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Venezuela’s protection minister, Vladimir Padrino, has been photographed a number of instances with the launchers in Caracas.
NCS has contacted Venezuela’s Ministry of Defense and the US Department of Defense for remark.