With the increase in tensions in the United States-Venezuela, Maduro trains civilians for a “undeclared war”

When Edith Parales was younger, he joined the National Bolivar Militia, a civilian force created by the late President Hugo Chavez in 2009 to help protect Venezuela.

“We have to be a country capable of protecting every last inch from our territory so that no one will get involved with us,” Chavez said at the time.

Sixteen years on, Parales, who is now 68, has joined thousands of other police members who are preparing for a potential attack in the United States.

The power of rags, composed mainly by elderly citizens, has been summoned after the deployment of the US Navy ships in the Southern Caribbean for what US officials have said they are drug control.

Read: What do we know about the US strike on “Combating Venezuela” and was it legal?

The power of the United States has destroyed at least three boats that are said to carry drugs from Venezuela to the United States, killing at least 17 people on board.

Venezuela’s Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, said the attacks and the naval deployment were on an “undeclared war” from the United States against Venezuela, and President Nicolas Maduro quickly called on the police in an active obligation.

Perales has its uniform and boots on hand, ready to protect its Bastion – Karakas, where he lives.

He lives in 23 de Enero, an area in the capital, which has traditionally been a chavismo fortress, the left -wing ideology, founded by the late President Chavez and accepted by his elected heir to the service Nicolas Maduro.

A loyal supporter of the government, he says he is “ready to serve when they call me.”

“We have to protect the Fatherland,” he tells the BBC, echoing statements made by President Maduro as a result of boat blows.

While experts have told the BBC that the deployment of the US Navy in South Caribbean is large, they also indicated that it is not large enough to suggest that it is part of the planned invasion.

However, there is no doubt that the relations between Venezuela and the United States – which has long tightened – has worsened even more since Donald Trump returned to office.

The United States is among the Nations raft who did not recognize Maduro’s re -election in July 2024, pointing to evidence gathered by the Venezuelan opposition with the help of independent observers showing that his rival Edmundo Gonzalez won the landslide elections.

Shortly after the second entered office for the second time, Trump announced the Venezuelan criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, a terrorist group that he used as a justification to deport Venezuelan migrants from the United States and for recent military action in the Caribbean.

The Trump administration has also accused Maduro of being in a league with drug cartels and has recently doubled the award, which offers for information leading to up to $ 50 million (£ 37.3 million).

Maduro furiously rejected Washington’s accusations and defended his government’s actions against drug trafficking.

But the Maduro government also cooperates with the Trump administration by returning Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States, whom US officials have been accused of being members of the gang.

After the first blow to a boat, Maduro also sent a letter to his colleague in the United States, calling for a meeting – an approach that was rejected by the White House.

But internally, his rhetoric remains battle.

Maduro has ordered the Venezuelan military – the National Bolivir Armed Forces (FANB) – to train local militia like the one to which Edith Perales belongs.

These groups are drawn up most of the volunteers from poor communities, although public sector workers say they have been pressed and join them.

In the past, the police were mainly used to increase the number of political rallies and parades.

Its members tend to be much older than those who join the Colectivos concerns with hard government supporters who are accused of committing human rights and which are often used to break anti-government protests.

But at first glance, trembling with what he perceives as a threat in the United States, the Maduro government is now training the police.

On Saturday afternoon, the soldiers were ignited in the Petar Quarter of Caracas to obey Maduro’s order that “the barracks are coming to the people.”

The task of the soldiers is to teach locals how to deal with weapons to respond to the “enemy”.

The training scenario includes tanks, Russian rifles – not loaded – and instructions posters.

A soldier gives instructions to a small group of a strong speaker.

“The important thing is to get acquainted with the weapons; we strive for the goal and make a hit.”

Everyone in the neighborhood, including women and children, listens.

Most volunteers involved in training exercise have no experience in armed battles, but what they lack the experience they compensate for in enthusiasm.

“If I have to put my life in battle, I will do it,” says Francisco Ogoda, one of the locals, participating in BBC News Mundo.

The 69-year-old throws himself on the baked sun asphon and takes a battle position as he squeezes the AK-103 rifle. A soldier corrects his shape.

“Even cats will go out here to shoot to protect our homeland,” he says.

His impatience is combined with that of Glady Rodriguez, a 67-year-old woman who recently joined the police. “We will not allow any US government to come and invade,” she insists.

Homemade manufacturer Jarelis James, 38, is a little more colorful. “This is the first time I catch such a weapon,” she says. “I feel a little nervous, but I know I can do it.”

But while the residents of Petare learn to deal with a rifle outside Maduro’s fortresses, life continues as usual, with few seem very thoughtful about the possibility of invasion.

Even just a few meters from the place where Francisco Ogoda took a position on Dusty Street, residents go around their daily lives, do not divert. Street sellers show their goods while other people make the weekend store without even looking at the militia members who do their exercises.

Beninho Alarcon, a political analyst at the Catholic University of Andres Belo, says that Maduro’s plan for the police is not him to participate in a battle, but rather to act as a “human shield”.

Prof. Alarcon claims that by calling civilians, Maduro’s government wants to increase human expenses, any potential US military actions would cause, making the opportunity for human victims much higher.

According to Prof. Alarcon, therefore it doesn’t matter if the police are well trained or even if they are unarmed.

Maduro claims that over 8.2 million civilians in the police and reserves are included in the police, but this figure is widely questioned.

Perales, who has been in the police for decades, has seen his role as a “defender” on his street, the neighborhood he lives in, what he knows.

Although he has participated in previous training exercises, he has given up the more new ones because of his age and health.

But if it was a conflict that had to happen, he says he is ready: “We have to protect the territory. To carry the uniform already implies responsibility.”