Venezuela swears in 5,600 new troops amid U.S. military build-up

The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 new soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranked up military pressure on the oil-producing country.

President Nicolas Maduro has called for expanded military recruitment after the U.S. deployed a fleet of warships – including the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking. American forces have carried out deadly strikes on at least 22 vessels, killing at least 83.

Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged Cartel of the Suns, which it declared a terrorist organization last month.

Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country's oil reserves.

"Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force," Colonel Gabriel Alejandro Rendon Vilchez said Saturday during the ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela's largest military complex, in Caracas.

According to official figures, Venezuela has 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.

Also on Saturday, Maduro talked with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over phone about global geopolitics and the military deployment in the Caribbean.

The Turkish president "expressed deep concern over the threats recently facing Venezuela, particularly the military deployment and various actions intended to disrupt peace and security in the Caribbean," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement.

Maduro said the maneuvers in the Caribbean constitute an "illegal, disproportionate, unnecessary and even extravagant" act of aggression, adding that Venezuela will continue working for peace.

"It is important to keep channels of dialogue open between the U.S. and Venezuela," Erdogan told him, according to a statement from his office on X, expressing hope that "the tension will ease as soon as possible."

(With input from agencies)