Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the mobilization of artillery to defend the country.
According to Maduro, anti-government armed groups receiving money from the United States and Colombia are preparing to launch terrorist activity and carry out a coup d’état in Venezuela, hiding behind the COVID-19 epidemic.
“We remind you that US President Donald Trump, despite the raging COVID-19 epidemic in his own country, decided to conduct a military operation against drug cartels in South America. U.S. warships and aircraft have already been sent to the southern Caribbean,” Maduro said during a meeting with members of the government in Caracas.
The US Department of Justice has charged Maduro and a number of high-ranking Venezuelan officials with “drug terrorism,” corruption and other crimes.
US authorities have also announced a reward of US$15 million for the capture of Maduro.
At the end of March 2020, a combat readiness check was carried out in the air defense units of the Venezuelan Joint Aerospace Defense Command.
