Venezuela is reportedly preparing for an American invasion after a string of threats from President Trump.
The president declared on Saturday that the country’s airspace is closed, heightening fears of a conflict breaking out.
The South American nation reportedly has two plans to fight an American invasion, according to sources – though one has been kept secret by Venezuelan officials.
Venezuela’s military capabilities pale in comparison to those of the US. According to the most recent Global Firepower Index, the US dominates as the highest-ranking country, while Venezuela ranks 50th.
Venezuela would struggle to respond to an attack from the US, and would likely turn to guerrilla-style resistance, according to sources and planning documents seen by Reuters.
The defense tactic has been alluded to publicly before, but officials have yet to acknowledge a second strategy, referred to as ‘anarchization.’
Anarchization refers to the deliberate chaos orchestrated by intelligence agents and armed supporters of the ruling party to make the capital city, Carcas, impossible for foreign forces to control.
Sources told Reuters that the plot would make Venezuela ‘ungovernable.’
Donald Trump has heightened military tensions in Venezuela, causing the country to prepare for a potential land invasion
Venezuela’s military capabilities pale in comparison to those of the US, meaning the country would have to rely on guerrilla-style resistance
Venezuela has been under Nicolás Maduro’s rule since 2013, whom Secretary of State Marco Rubio branded an illegitimate president
One source close to the Venezuelan government previously told the publication that they wouldn’t ‘last two hours in a conventional war’ with the US.
‘We’re not ready to face one of the world’s most powerful and well-trained armies,’ another source told Reuters earlier this month.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has followed in his predecessor, Hugo Chávez’s footsteps, by cultivating strong military loyalty by appointing officers to high-ranking government roles.
The US has condemned Maduro’s corrupt rule, citing the president’s election victory in 2024, despite evidence that his opposition won more votes.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Maduro an illegitimate president, recently naming the Cartel de Los Soles a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Rubio stated that the Cartel de Los Soles is a group of high-ranking individuals following Maduro who have corrupted the country’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary, including invoking terrorist violence and trafficking drugs.
Tensions have heightened in recent months between Venezuela and the US, as the Trump administration has launched a crusade to take down ‘narco-terrorists’ transporting drugs through international waters.
Current and former officials at the Pentagon have estimated that the lethal campaign against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers has killed over 80 people, including 11 people on board a boat hit by a US missile strike in September, according to the Washington Post.
Maduro has cultivated strong military loyalty, appointing officers to high-ranking government positions
A new report from Reuters detailed planning documents that stated Venezuela would rely on ‘anarchization’ as a defense tactic
On Friday, the Post reported that two sources with direct knowledge of the operation said that US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave intelligence analysts monitoring the boat instructions to ‘kill everybody’ on board on September 2.
Hegseth doubled down on the lethal directive in a statement later that day, saying the administration intends to kill ‘narco-terrorists’ poisoning the American people.’
The US has amped up a military presence in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico as officials have warned of a ‘new phase.’
On Saturday morning, Trump announced on Truth Social that the airspace over Venezuela will be closed in its entirety.
The administration has focused efforts on cracking down on drug trafficking, but has conceded that regime change may be a consequence of that mission.
Venezuela’s foreign minister called the directive to close their airspace a ‘colonialist threat,’ adding that it is an ‘extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.’
The US has engaged in military strikes on Venezuelan vessels in international waters in recent months, killing an estimated 80 people
A military presence has increased in the the Caribbean and Puerto Rico as officials have warned of a ‘new phase’
Trump announced in September that the US carried out a strike against a vessel, killing 11 ‘narco-terrorists’
The president has also suggested that operations could escalate to land strikes, telling service members on a reported phone call on Thanksgiving of the military expansion.
‘In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore,’ he said.
Trump added that it was ‘easier’ to intercept potential drug traffickers on land, and that it would be starting ‘very soon’.
‘We warn them: Stop sending poison to our country,’ he added.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham supported the decision to escalate US land action, telling CNN: ‘I very much appreciate and respect the determination by President Trump to deal with the drug caliphate countries that inhabit our backyard — chief among them Venezuela.’
In the past week, Navy vessels have been seen sailing increasingly closer to the South American nation.
The new wave of deployments began in August with the arrival of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group. In October, the US announced that the 1106ft USS Gerald R Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, would also join the mission.
The two leaders reportedly spoke on the phone last week and discussed plans to meet, although nothing has been set in stone
The carrier reached Caribbean waters on November 11 with more than four thousand sailors, fighter jets and support vessels, including the USS Thomas Hudner, USS Rampage, and USS Normandy.
The Pentagon is calling the presence ‘Operation Southern Spear,’ with over 15,000 troops estimated in the area.
Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Maduro has said eight million civilians are training in militias.
However, the military’s equipment is decades old, most of which was purchased from Russia in the early 2000s.
Military tensions, however, could be curbed diplomatically. The New York Times reported on Friday that multiple sources confirmed a phone call occurred between Trump and Maduro sometime last week.
