Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Maduro threatened to 'declare a republic in arms' if attacked by forces that the United States government recently deployed near to his country in the Caribbean.
Maduro said his country was at 'maximum preparedness' as he spoke during a news conference Monday in Caracas just as the White House prepared to boost its maritime force in the waters off Venezuela this week.
The United States has already ordered the deployment of spy planes, a warship and even a submarine to the Southern Caribbean Sea to address the growing threat posed by Latin American drug cartels.
'In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,' Maduro said of the US deployment, which he characterized as 'an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.'
Maduro did not elaborate on what 'declaring a republic in arms' would entail.
