Tensions in Venezuela are rising as President Nicolás Maduro announces nationwide military, police, and civilian militia deployments across 284 ‘battlefronts’ amid growing friction with the US Washington has sent F-35 jets to Puerto Rico and recently carried out a deadly Caribbean strike. Maduro vows to defend sovereignty, denounces US actions as imperial aggression, and activates ‘Exercise Independence 200’ as both sides brace for a deeper confrontation.