Accessibility links

Breaking News

Venezuelan Military Conducts Drills on Colombian Border to 'Intercept Invasion'


Members of the National Guard take part in a military exercise in Garcia Hevia airport in La Fria, Venezuela, Sept. 10, 2019.
Members of the National Guard take part in a military exercise in Garcia Hevia airport in La Fria, Venezuela, Sept. 10, 2019.

Venezuela's armed forces carried out military drills along the Colombian border on Tuesday which it said were to prepare to intercept a foreign invasion, though neighboring countries have not threatened to do so.

The armed forces' Strategic Operational Commander, Remigio Ceballos, said 150,000 troops were conducting activities "related to security, exploration and the interception of any invasion of Venezuelan territory."

"It's an operation to guarantee the defense," Ceballos said, speaking to reporters at an airport by the city of La Fria in the border state of Tachira. The exercises are expected to continue for several weeks.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly warned of an invasion from Colombia, coordinated by the U.S. government, but there is no evidence one is forthcoming.

The U.S. government has said it wants to resolve Venezuela's crisis peacefully, either via negotiations or by forcing Maduro out of power through the use of crippling sanctions.

Most western nations consider Maduro illegitimate after he secured a second term last year in a vote widely viewed as fraudulent. The United States instead recognizes as Venezuela's rightful head-of-state opposition leader Juan Guaido, who Maduro claims is fomenting a coup.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG