Venezuela Bolsters Military Ranks with 5,600 New Recruits Amidst U.S. Presence in Caribbean
Caracas, Venezuela – The Venezuelan Armed Forces (FANB) inducted 5,600 new soldiers on Saturday, a move occurring against a backdrop of heightened tensions with the United States. The recruitment drive follows a U.S. military deployment to the Caribbean in August,which included a naval flotilla featuring one of the world’s largest aircraft carriers.
Venezuelan officials framed the expansion as a necessary response to perceived threats from the U.S. government, frequently referred to as “imperialism.” During the incorporation ceremony, officers described the new recruits as ”revolutionary, socialist fighters” deeply committed to the ideology of Hugo Chávez and trained in “revolutionary resistance” tactics.
“venezuela has an Armed Force,together with the people,fused,trained,moralized. Under no circumstances will we allow the invasion of an empire,” stated Colonel Gabriel Alejandro Rendón Vílchez.
General Javier José Marcano Tábata reported a surge in enlistment applications coinciding with the increased U.S. military activity. “In these moments where imperialism threatens our country… our people, the young people, come by the thousands to join the Bolivarian National Armed Forces,” he said at the event, held at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex.
The U.S. government has accused President Nicolás Maduro of leading the “Cartel of the Suns,” an alleged drug trafficking organization. As September, U.S. forces have reported neutralizing 87 suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Maduro vehemently denies these accusations, asserting that the U.S. deployment aims to destabilize his government and seize Venezuela’s substantial oil reserves.
Maduro has directed the military and police to maintain a “permanent offensive plan” to counter what he describes as “imperialist aggression.”
According to official data, the FANB comprises approximately 200,000 active troops, supplemented by 200,000 police officers. Maduro has also stated that Venezuela possesses a reserve force of eight million members within the Bolivarian National Militia.
