Venezuela has intensified its military posture on two fronts, expanding troop deployments along its western frontier and mobilising civilians at home. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Caracas began deploying an additional 15,000 soldiers, supported by air, river and drone units, to reinforce security on the 2,200-kilometre border with Colombia. The minister added that Bogotá had been briefed on the operation and ‘expressed satisfaction’, while Venezuela called for matching efforts on the Colombian side. The border move follows a weekend enlistment campaign for the Bolivarian Militia. President Nicolás Maduro urged civilians to register in response to what he termed “outlandish” U.S. threats; officials claim the militia now numbers more than 4.5 million volunteers. As part of the show of force, Maduro promoted Venezuela’s ambassador to Colombia, Carlos Martínez Mendoza, to the rank of major-general in the active reserve. Cabello, who also oversees internal security, reported drug seizures that he said ‘surpass any calculation’ and asserted that only 5 % of Colombia’s cocaine attempts to leave South America through Venezuela. He accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of acting as “the world’s largest drug cartel”. Colombian President Gustavo Petro denied the existence of Venezuela’s purported ‘Cartel de los Soles’ but acknowledged traffickers use Venezuelan territory to move narcotics to Europe and the Middle East. Tensions with Washington underpin the mobilisations. The United States has stationed three warships in the Caribbean for anti-drug operations and doubled a reward for Maduro’s arrest to US$50 million earlier this month. Venezuelan officials, backed by regional allies and civil-society groups, have denounced the deployment as a pretext for military intervention and have framed the troop buildup and militia drive as defensive measures to protect national sovereignty.