Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the mobilization of up to 4.5 million members of the Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela — Venezuela’s civilian reserve force — in a calculated display of force amid rising tensions with the United States.
The move comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on the Maduro regime, deploying Aegis-equipped destroyers, aircraft, and submarines near Venezuelan waters under the banner of anti-narcotics operations. Washington also more than tripled the reward for Maduro’s capture, hiking it from $15 million to $50 million, citing his deep ties to narcotrafficking and transnational criminal networks.
CBS News has more on the furious reaction out of Caracas — and the claims from its authoritarian leader:
Maduro lambasted “the renewal of extravagant, bizarre and outlandish threats” from the U.S.
“We are also deployed throughout the Caribbean … in our sea, our property, Venezuelan territory,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
Despite the saber-rattling, the White House is standing firm.
Washington, which does not recognize Maduro’s past two election victories, accuses the Venezuelan of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration announced sanctions against the group and Maduro’s administration last month.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump directed the military to target drug cartels in Latin America, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
As part of his response, Maduro called for arming rural and labor populations — “fusiles y misiles para la fuerza campesina” (rifles and missiles for the campesino force) — evoking Bolivarian ideology and civil–military unity, casting Venezuela’s rural and working-class base not only as citizens but as defenders of sovereignty against foreign threats.
Created by Hugo Chávez in 2008, the militia operates as an auxiliary to the armed forces and plays a central role in regime propaganda and internal surveillance. By mobilizing such a large share of this force, Maduro is not only signaling defiance toward Washington — he’s tightening his grip at home. The militia has long functioned as a loyalty machine, offering economic benefits and social status to those who pledge allegiance. (In a country plagued by hyperinflation and shortages, those perks remain powerful motivators.)
The timing is no accident. Maduro remains deeply unpopular and widely regarded as illegitimate after the 2018 election, marred by irregularities and condemned by much of the international community. This show of force is aimed not only at deterring foreign adversaries — above all the United States — but also at consolidating loyalty within a fracturing base, amplifying the regime’s narrative of resistance, and drowning out dissent as economic collapse and political repression grind on.
READ NEXT: Top Trump Supporter Celebrates Huge Court Victory
Unless they can walk on water, they aren’t much of a threat.
Select raids in country for countering drugs