Venezuela has 5,000 Russian portable surface-to-air missiles to counter US forces in the Caribbean, President Nicolas Maduro said, quoted by "Agence France-Presse".
Washington has deployed stealth fighter jets and warships to the Caribbean as part of its anti-drug efforts and has destroyed at least eight boats it says were carrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States.
Caracas denounced troop deployment as dress rehearsal for operation to oust Maduro, whom Washington accuses of running a drug cartel.
In a televised ceremony with top military leaders, Maduro pointed out that Venezuela has Russian short-range missiles known as "Igla-S" - "no fewer than 5,000 in key air defense positions to guarantee peace".
"Igla-S", designed to shoot down low-flying aircraft, have been used in military exercises ordered by Maduro in response to U.S. military activity that has angered leaders across much of Latin America.
The Pentagon has told Congress that the United States is in "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels, which he has designated as terrorist groups and described suspected smugglers as "illegal combatants".
Experts say extrajudicial killings are illegal even if they target confirmed traffickers.
Regional tensions have escalated after Colombia recalled its ambassador to Washington amid a nasty row between its leftist President Gustavo Petro and President Donald Trump.
Yesterday, Trump said the deployment of US forces had drastically reduced trafficking at sea and expressed readiness to target drug traffickers operating on land.