(MENAFN) Venezuela has escalated its military preparedness, putting its armed forces on high alert and ordering a substantial nationwide deployment in response to the ongoing US military presence in the Caribbean.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez stated late Tuesday that nearly 200,000 service members have been mobilized and placed on “full operational readiness.”

He added that ground, air, naval, and reserve units have been instructed to conduct war exercises through Wednesday to secure the nation’s defense capabilities.

This announcement followed the US Navy’s report that the aircraft carrier ‘USS Gerald R. Ford’ and its three accompanying warships had entered the operational area monitored by the US Southern Command, which the Pentagon designates as encompassing most of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The ‘Ford’, the US Navy’s largest and most technologically advanced carrier, carrying roughly 4,000 sailors, has been shifted from European waters to Latin America as part of a mission to “disrupt narcotics trafficking.”

Reports indicate that its deployment has increased the US military footprint in the broader Caribbean to around 15,000 personnel.

US President Donald Trump, who has consistently accused Venezuela of supporting “narcoterrorists,” ordered the naval fleet into the region last month and has suggested he may authorize attacks on Venezuelan territory.

Since September, the US military has reportedly conducted at least 19 strikes on small vessels in international waters, which it claims were operated by drug traffickers, resulting in more than 70 fatalities, according to media reports.

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