On Saturday, the Venezuelan army officially inducted 5,600 soldiers as the U.S. increases military pressure on the nation rich in oil.
President Nicolas Maduro has ramped up military enlistment after the U.S. dispatched a fleet of warships and the largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, citing a crackdown on drug trafficking.
U.S. forces have attacked over 20 vessels, resulting in at least 87 casualties.
Washington accuses Maduro of leading the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” labeled as a terrorist group last month.
Maduro claims the U.S. deployment aims to oust him and seize the nation’s oil reserves.
“We will not permit an imperialist invasion under any circumstances,” stated Colonel Gabriel Rendon at a ceremony in Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas’ largest military base.
Official data indicates Venezuela has approximately 200,000 troops and 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in custody on Saturday, detained on terrorism and incitement charges, as reported by a rights organization.
Alfredo Diaz becomes the sixth opposition figure to die in jail since November 2024.
Arrests followed protests after last July’s contested election, where Maduro claimed a third term amid fraud allegations.
The protests led to 28 deaths and about 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 released since.
Diaz, who governed Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “was held in isolation for a year with just one visit from his daughter,” reported Alfredo Romero, head of the NGO Foro Penal, advocating for political prisoners.
The organization states there are at least 887 political detainees in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado condemned political prisoner deaths amid “post-election repression.”
“These deaths—marked by denial of medical care, brutal conditions, isolation, torture, and degrading treatment—show a pattern of state repression,” Machado stated alongside Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition’s candidate who claims election victory.
