- Title: Venezuelan Army holds military drills to ward off "enemy forces"
- Date: 22nd January 2025
- Summary: CARABOBO, VENEZUELA (JANUARY 22, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARMY OFFICIALS IN MILITARY TANK VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIER AND MEMBER OF MILITIA INSIDE MILITARY TANK ARMED SOLDIER INSIDE MILITARY TANK AND LOOKING AT ROAD SOLDIER IN MILITARY TANK VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF MILITIA LYING ON GROUND WITH A RIFLE COMMANDER OF THE INTEGRAL DEFENSE OPERATIONAL ZONE HECTOR JOSE CADENAS DAAL HOLDING GUN, WALKING AND TALKING WITH MILITARY OFFICIALS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COMMANDER OF THE INTEGRAL DEFENSE OPERATIONAL ZONE, HECTOR JOSE CADENAS DAAL, SAYING: "More than 727 combatants in perfect popular, military, and police fusion. They are executing the closure and blockade of the Valencia-Puerto Cabello highway at the point of Trincheras and the entrance of the toll. In this way, they are preventing the advance of any enemy force that tries to pass this road axis of great importance for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In this way, it blocks the passage towards the center of power (Caracas)." ARMED SOLDIERS ON ROADSIDE DURING DRILL SOLDIERS GATHERED OUTSIDE TENT VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS MONITORING OPERATION SOLDIERS IN MILITARY TANK
- Embargoed: 5th February 2025 22:54
- Keywords: Nicolas Maduro Venezuela army military exercises soldiers
- Location: CARABOBO, VENEZUELA
- City: CARABOBO, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Defence,South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001552622012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Venezuela's National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) conducted military and police exercises on Wednesday (January 22), deploying more than 150,000 officers nationwide.
In Carabobo, central Venezuela, National Guard soldiers and members of the militia patrolled the main road to connect this region and Caracas with rifles and military trucks.
According to the integral defense operational zone commander, Hector Jose Cadenas Daal, the drills prevent "the advance of any enemy force" toward Caracas, Venezuela's capital and central government headquarters.
Regular army and militia personnel will participate in 290 exercises from Wednesday to Thursday (January 23), and they will use 159 naval assets, 50 air assets, and 250 heavy military vehicles, including tanks and artillery, according to local officials.
The exercises, dubbed 'Bolivarian Shield,' came less than two weeks after the controversial inauguration of Nicolas Maduro's third term, at a critical moment for the Venezuelan president to show strength and authority.
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