CARACAS: President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that Venezuela has 5,000 Russian man-portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces deployed in the Caribbean.
Washington has deployed stealth warplanes and Navy ships in the Caribbean as part of what it calls counter-narcotics efforts, and destroyed at least eight vessels it said were smuggling drugs from Venezuela toward the United States.
Venezuela has denounced the deployment as a dress rehearsal for an operation to oust Maduro, whom Washington accuses of running a drug cartel.
In a televised ceremony with senior military leaders, Maduro said Venezuela has Russian-made short-range missiles known as Igla-S — “no fewer than 5,000 in key air defense positions to ensure peace.”
The Igla-S, designed to take down low flying planes, has been used in military exercises ordered by Maduro in response to the US military activity, which has enraged leaders in much of Latin America.
The Pentagon has told Congress the United States is in “armed conflict” with Latin American drug cartels, designating them as terrorist groups and describing suspected smugglers as “unlawful combatants.”
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Experts say the summary killings are illegal even if they target confirmed traffickers.
Regional tensions have flared, with Colombia recalling its ambassador to Washington amid a nasty spat between its leftist president Gustavo Petro and President Donald Trump.
Trump said Wednesday that the US deployment has cut trafficking by sea drastically and is prepared to attack drug traffickers operating on land.
