Maduro Says Venezuela Has 5,000 Russian Missiles To Counter US Amid Rising Tensions
By Manisha Roy
President Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela has 5000 Russian Igla-S missiles deployed in key air defense positions to counter US forces in the Caribbean.
President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday stated that Venezuela possesses 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces stationed in the Caribbean.
During a televised ceremony attended by senior military officials, Maduro said that the country has Russian-made short-range missiles known as Igla-S — “no fewer than 5,000 in key air defense positions to ensure peace,” news agency AFP reported.
Maduro’s statement comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Venezuela over the ongoing campaign against drug trafficking in South America.
Trump’s Caribbean ‘Drug War’
Since the summer, the US has intensified its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and the waters near Venezuela, sparking speculation that US President Donald Trump might attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan President. Further, Maduro faces narcoterrorism charges in the US.
The US has launched seven lethal military strikes on boats in the Caribbean since early September. The US President said the vessels were used by drug traffickers and “narco-terrorists” linked to criminal groups in Venezuela and Colombia. The attacks have so far killed over 30 people.
US Strikes Eighth Alleged Drug-carrying Boat
So far, the US military has launched eight strikes against vessels suspected of trafficking drugs or aiding terrorist-designated groups. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the US military carried out its eighth strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
The strike marks an expansion of the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America. The attack, conducted Tuesday night, differed from the previous seven US strikes, which had all targeted vessels in the Caribbean. Hegseth said on social media that the latest strike killed two individuals, raising the death toll to at least 34 since the operations began last month.
Alongside the strikes, Trump has authorised covert CIA operations inside Venezuela, raised the US bounty for information leading to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, ordered B-52 bombers to conduct air manoeuvres near Venezuela’s coast and replaced Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of the US Southern Command overseeing Latin America, two years ahead of schedule.
