This handout picture released on September 18, 2025, by the CEOFANB (Strategic Operations Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela) shows a Venezuelan Navy VN16 tanks during military exercises on the Caribbean island of La Orchila, Venezuela. (Photo by Handout / CEOFANB / AFP)
Caracas: Venezuelan troops will give weapons training to residents of low-income neighborhoods this weekend as part of President Nicolas Maduro's response to a US military build-up in the Caribbean, near his country.
Maduro, who accuses Washington of planning to invade Venezuela, said late Thursday that troops will go into communities "to teach all those men and women who enlisted (in a civilian militia) how to handle weapons systems."
Speaking on state television, the leftist strongman, whom the United States accuses of heading a drug cartel, said it would be the first time soldiers would take their weapons out of the barracks into communities for training purposes.
The biggest US naval deployment in the Caribbean in decades and US strikes on at least two Venezuelan boats allegedly transporting drugs across the Caribbean have stoked fears that the United States is planning attacks on Venezuelan territory.
On Wednesday, Venezuela launched three days of military exercises on its Caribbean island of La Orchila in response to the perceived threat.
La Orchila is close to the area where the United States intercepted and held a Venezuelan fishing vessel for eight hours over the weekend.US forces have also targeted suspected drug boats.
President Donald Trump says US forces have "knocked off" three boats in total but has only given details and video footage of two of the strikes, which left 14 dead.
Washington says its operations are part of its war on drug trafficking and dismisses questions over the legality of the strikes in international waters.
