Venezuela to mobilize 284 battlefronts as US escalates tensions
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The military, police, and civilian forces will deploy across 284 locations in Venezuela as tensions escalate due to the US military buildup in the Caribbean.
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Members of the Bolivarian Militia listen to a recorded speech by President Nicolas Maduro at a military garrison in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced early on Thursday that his country would deploy military, police, and civilian defenses across 284 battlefront locations throughout the nation, marking his latest demonstration of military capacity during a period of heightened tensions with the US.
Maduro did not specify the number of military, police, or civilian militias that would be participating in the new deployment; however, the Venezuelan government has already announced an increase of 25,000 troops for states along Venezuela's border with Colombia.
Speaking in an early morning state television address from the central coast city of Ciudad Caribia, with his defense minister at his side, Maduro stated that Venezuela is prepared for an armed fight if necessary and that official troops are fully deployed along all coastal and border regions, from the frontier with Colombia across the entire nation.
11 killed in US strike on boat not Tren de Aragua members
Venezuela's interior minister said on Thursday that none of the 11 people killed in a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean last week were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a statement that came as the South American nation deployed troops amid heightened tensions with the US.
The Trump administration previously claimed that the boat was transporting illegal narcotics, but has provided scant further information about the incident, even amid demands from members of the US Congress for a justification for the action.
"They openly confessed to killing 11 people," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Venezuelan state television, adding that the country has done its own investigation and "there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers."
Following the incident, the Venezuelan government asserted that a video of the strike posted by Trump was created with artificial intelligence, while the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
