Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that his country will deploy military, police and civil defense forces on 284 "combat fronts" across the country - another show of his military might amid heightened tensions with the United States, Reuters reported.
The Trump administration has boosted the U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean as part of what it says is a crackdown on drug traffickers and has ordered the deployment of 10 F-35 fighter jets to an airport in Puerto Rico.
Last week, a U.S. military strike in the Caribbean killed 11 people and sank a Venezuelan ship that Trump said was carrying illegal drugs, although his administration has provided scant information about the incident, even amid requests from members of the U.S. Congress.
Maduro, who says the U.S. military hopes to oust him, has not said how many soldiers, police or civilian militias will be involved in the new force deployment.
His government has already announced an increase in 25,000 troops for states along Venezuela's border with Colombia, which are a hub for drug trafficking.
"We are ready for armed combat if necessary," Maduro said from Ciudad Caribe, on the country's central coast, in an early morning broadcast on state television, where he was accompanied by the defense minister.
"Along the entire Venezuelan coast, from the border with Colombia to the eastern part of the country, from north to south and from east to west, we have full preparation of official troops," he said.
Last month, the United States doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million on charges of drug trafficking and links to criminal gangs.
Maduro has always denied the charges, and his government says Venezuela is not a drug producer.