Venezuelans learn to shoot and fight at war drills

VENEZUELAN troops taught civilians how to shoot rifles, fire missiles and engage in hand-to-hand combat during drills held on Saturday in defiance of US sanctions and President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.

War planes, tanks and 200,000 troops of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) deployed along with 700,000 reservists and civilians as President Nicolás Maduro launched two days of military exercises.

In a Caracas military academy, soldiers taught civilians how to use fists, rifles, bazookas and anti-aircraft guns.

“Yankees out!” 60-year-old Erica Avendano yelled as she bashed a rag dummy with her rifle on an assault course. “I hope nothing will happen, but we are ready for anything.”

Trump warned earlier this month the US was mulling a range of options against Venezuela, “including a possible military option if necessary”.

Top US officials later played down the threat. “No military actions are anticipated in the near future,” said US National Security Adviser HR McMaster. But Trump’s tough talk bolstered Maduro’s oft-repeated claim thatWashington is plotting to topple him and wants to grab control of Venezuela’s oil – the world’s largest proven reserves.

Gregorio Valderrama, a 23-year-old father of three, received a shooting lesson from soldiers on Saturday.

Valderrama said he was there to learn “to defend my country and my family”.

“We may not know how to handle a rifle and when to shoot, but here we are learning,” he added.

Military analyst Rocio San Miguel judged the weekend’s exercises to be “mere propaganda” rather than a meaningful challenge to Trump.

She said they aimed to discourage “any disloyalty in the ranks of the FANB, which is a worry for the intelligence services”, and “to reinforce the anti-imperialist line”.

Tension surged again however when the White House on Friday unveiled its first-ever sanctions to target Venezuela as a whole, rather than just Maduro and his inner circle.

The measures ban trade in new bonds issued by the Venezuelan government or its cash-cow oil company, PDVSA. That could choke off access to New York debt markets and raise the risk of Venezuela being forced into default.