Maduro threatens to proclaim a “republic in arms” if the US launches an attack on Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has warned that he would “constitutionally declare a republic in arms” if US forces launched an attack on Venezuela amid the expanding American naval presence in the Caribbean.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Maduro described the US military buildup as “extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody” and announced the deployment of troops along Venezuela’s coast and its border with Colombia, while calling for civilian enlistment in defense efforts.

The US has not indicated plans for a land invasion but is positioning thousands of personnel and naval assets, including Aegis-guided missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham in the Caribbean, and other ships like the USS Sampson and USS Lake Erie in Latin America, as part of operations targeting drug cartels accused of smuggling fentanyl into the US.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil criticised the rationale, citing a UN report that only 5% of Colombian cocaine passes through Venezuela, and called the US presence a destabilising threat to the region.

Maduro reaffirmed his legitimacy as Venezuela’s elected president and accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of pushing for conflict, warning that any US military action would leave Trump’s “hands stained with blood.”