Venezuela conducts military exercises, claiming US threat

Venezuela conducts military exercises, claiming US threat
BY HANNAH DREIER AND JORGE RUEDA ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/14/2015 11:44 PM 03/14/2015 11:44 PM

CARACAS, VENEZUELA
Soldiers rolled out shoulder-fired missiles, fighter planes and armored
trucks Saturday for the first of 10 days of military exercises that the
president of socialist-governed Venezuela says are needed to protect
against a looming threat from the U.S.

As nearly 100,000 members of the armed forces began conducting exercises
across the country, Venezuela's government got support from South
American nations, which criticized the U.S. for the way it imposed
sanctions on Venezuelan leaders.

Washington imposed the sanctions earlier this week on several Venezuelan
officials accused of human rights violations and declared the country a
threat to U.S. national security, a formality that generally precedes
declarations of sanctions. President Nicolas Maduro said he would take
steps to protect Venezuela from a hostile U.S. government.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez inaugurated the exercises at
Fort Tiuna in Caracas, the largest military installation in Venezuela.
He said U.S. sanctions constitute "an imminent danger for us" and the
armed forces must ready themselves to ensure the country's independence.

In a nationally broadcast talk Saturday night, Maduro praised the skills
shown by the armed forces on the first day of the exercises, saying that
"we have a military that is the best guarantee of peace."

If ever, he added, "the insolent boot of imperialism dared touch the
sacred land of Venezuela, that day if we had to fight for the dignity of
our country, we would do it for peace and for the sovereignty and the
integrity" of the country.

The U.S. has denied Maduro's claim that it is seeking to undermine his
government and urged him to focus on Venezuela's domestic problems.

Venezuelan sailors performed drills in the Caribbean while soldiers
defended the oil-producing country's biggest refinery from a simulated
attack. Thousands of civilians wearing the red shirts of the socialist
revolution started by the late President Hugo Chavez 15 years ago
paraded in a complementary exercise.

Also on Saturday, the 12-nation South American bloc UNASUR rejected the
U.S.'s classification of Venezuela as a threat. Representatives met
privately in Ecuador to review the situation in Venezuela and the recent
U.S. crackdown.

Regional leaders from Cuba, Bolivia and Ecuador had already criticized
Washington's actions this week, which even some members of Venezuelan
opposition groups have said were inappropriate.

Last week, UNASUR sent a delegation of foreign ministers to Caracas to
assess the situation in Venezuela, which has wide political divisions
amid severe economic problems. The main outcome of the visit was a
promise to help the country alleviate food shortages.

Opposition leaders in Venezuela expressed doubt about the utility of the
UNASUR meeting and called the military exercises an embossment, saying
they underlined the increasing crackdown on dissent in a country where
several political leaders have been jailed. A police officer was
recently arrested for killing a 14-year-old at an anti-government protest

Source: Venezuela conducts military exercises, claiming US threat |
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