Maduro says US military is 'targeting Venezuela' with ships and missiles

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed on Monday that eight US military ships, 1,200 missiles and a submarine were targeting his country. His statement was in response to Washington's military deployment in the Caribbean.

"Eight ships with 1,200 missiles and a submarine are targeting Venezuela," Maduro told a group of foreign journalists in Caracas. He called the deployment an "extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral, bloody, and absolutely criminal" threat, adding that Venezuela was "facing the greatest threat the continent has seen in the last 100 years."

Tensions between the Trump administration and Maduro have recently escalated after the US deployed a military contingent to the southern Caribbean. The US claims the force is there to combat criminal cartels and drug trafficking.

This troop movement coincided with an increased reward of $50 million for Maduro's arrest and the designation of his government as a terrorist group.

"They're trying to demonize me," Maduro told a press conference. "We're not going to accept anyone applying their model to us."

"We have declared Venezuela's maximum preparedness: in response to maximum pressure, maximum preparedness," he added.

Maduro also attributed the recent moves to Republican factions in Florida, which he said play a key role in the Trump administration. "We are witnessing how the Miami mafia has taken power in the White House and the State Department."

Addressing Trump directly, Maduro warned that Secretary of State Marco Rubio "wants to fill his hands with blood, Caribbean and Latin blood."