Venezuelan authorities have begun forming a popular militia to counter possible military aggression by the United States, the VTV television channel reported.
The country's President Nicolas Maduro specified that the creation of such units has begun in over five thousand communities. They will be formed into complex defense bases to coordinate citizens and the military in all parts of the country.
At the end of August, Venezuela announced the mobilization of the Bolivarian National Militia. According to various sources, from four to eight million people may be called up for service.
Maduro also ordered the redeployment of troops to areas bordering Colombia to prepare to repel a possible American invasion.
A day earlier, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsett said that US troops would be ready to change the regime in Venezuela if the American leader made the appropriate decision. President Donald Trump himself denied any such plans, calling Maduro “the worst president in history“.