By By Micheal Chukwuebuka
PRESIDENT Nicolás Maduro has called on ordinary Venezuelans to take up arms, prompting thousands to enrol in militia training camps as Caracas braces for what it warns could be US aggression.
Over the weekend, volunteers ranging from students to pensioners gathered at camps in and around the capital to learn how to handle firearms. The training unfolded against a backdrop of fiery anti-American rhetoric and the sight of US warships stationed in the Caribbean. Many recruits arrived in tracksuits or improvised military fatigues, wearing insignia from workplaces or political organisations.
At Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas’s vast military complex, buses and cars delivered new recruits for drills. A tank painted with the slogan “Independence or Nothing” stood near the shooting range, where officers urged volunteers to prepare for combat. “I need committed people ready to take up the rifle and face our enemies,” one commander said, stressing that this was not a rehearsal for street protests but for war.
For many, the decision to enlist stemmed from a mix of fear and patriotism. “If the Americans come with their war machines, we will greet them with lead,” declared 62-year-old Pedro Arias. A teenage member of the pro-government group Futuro said she joined “to defend ourselves against the gringos”. A 54-year-old lawyer working with a state foundation told reporters she was undergoing weapons training “to defend my country”.
Venezuela President Maduro
The mobilisation comes amid worsening relations between Washington and Caracas. The US recently deployed a naval task force to Caribbean waters, ostensibly for counter-narcotics operations. Earlier this month, American forces struck what they said was a drug vessel in the southern Caribbean, leaving 11 dead—a move Venezuela denounced as aggression. Caracas has also accused US personnel of detaining a local fishing boat in its exclusive economic zone, an allegation Washington has not confirmed.
Mr Maduro has responded by reinforcing troop deployments along the coast and the Colombian border, while urging civilians to enrol in militias tied to the armed forces. Analysts estimate that hundreds of thousands of militiamen already serve alongside Venezuela’s professional military. Training programmes now include live-fire exercises with AK-47s and pistols, as well as classroom sessions on US interventions in Latin America.
Critics argue the mobilisation is entrenching the militarisation of civilian life and bolstering the government’s control. Supporters insist it is a vital safeguard of sovereignty in the face of what they see as an imminent threat. Either way, the surge in enlistments highlights how profoundly Venezuela’s standoff with the United States is reshaping its society.
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