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Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members in response to "outlandish threats" by the United States after Washington raised the bounty for his arrest to $50 million and launched anti-drug operations in the Caribbean

Official figures say the Venezuelan militia, founded by Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, contains about 5 million people -- though the actual number is believed to be smaller.

Venezuela's total population is around 30 million.

Maduro lambasted "the renewal of extravagant, bizarre, and outlandish threats" from the U.S.

The administration of President Donald Trump earlier this month doubled its bounty to $50 million for the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges.

Washington, which does not recognize Maduro's past two election victories, accuses the Venezuelan of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called Cartel de los Soles. The Trump administration announced sanctions against the group and Maduro's administration last month

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela- ... s-threats/

U.S. President Donald Trump has called off efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement with Venezuela and told his special envoy Richard Grenell to stop all outreach, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

The news, which was first reported by the New York Times, follows a series of military strikes on vessels carrying drugs near Venezuela. Trump told Congress that the U.S. is engaged in "a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ ... 025-10-06/