Venezuela Puts Military on Alert as US Aircraft Carrier Enters Caribbean

Venezuela says it is preparing its armed forces for a possible invasion by the United States, escalating tensions in a region already on edge over the arrival of a US aircraft carrier strike group.

In a statement on Tuesday, Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino announced a “massive deployment of ground, aerial, naval, riverine and missile forces,” adding that police, militias and civilian defence units would also participate.

“The Bolivarian National Armed Forces will respond to any threat to our sovereignty,” Padrino said. “We will not allow foreign boots to trample our sacred soil.”

The US has recently increased troop activity across the region, including in Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, under what it calls training and counter-narcotics operations.

Since September 2, Washington has carried out at least 19 air strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing about 75 people, according to military briefings. Trump has hinted at further escalation, saying that “land strikes are going to be next,” though when pressed in late October on whether he planned direct action inside Venezuela, he replied, “No.”

Analysts say Venezuela’s show of readiness is as much political as military. Years of economic crisis, sanctions, and underinvestment have hollowed out the country’s armed forces, raising doubts about their ability to repel any serious US operation.

Still, the Maduro government is using the threat to consolidate support at home, portraying the standoff as a battle for national sovereignty. The move follows a 2024 election widely condemned as fraudulent, which left Maduro increasingly isolated abroad and facing simmering unrest domestically.

With a US carrier parked just offshore and both sides trading accusations, the Caribbean is once again teetering between posturing, and a dangerous confrontation neither side may truly want.