Venezuela 🇻🇪 holds military 🔫 drills after US 🇺🇸 threat

War planes ✈️, tanks, and 200,000 troops of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) were deployed along with 700,000 reserves and civil militia members as the exercises 🔫 formally launched on Saturday.

"A complete menu of training skills was being offered to allow ordinary Venezuelans to be able to resist in case of a US invasion, as well as an internal subversion from the opposition," Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman said, reporting from Venezuela's 🇻🇪 largest military academy in Caracas.

But tensions surged 📈 again when the White House made good on the sanctions threat ⚠️ on Friday, unveiling its first-ever such measures to target Venezuela 🇻🇪 as a whole, rather than just Maduro and his inner circle‼️

The sanctions, which Trump signed by executive order, prohibit🚫 American 🇺🇸 financial institutions 🏦 from providing new money to Venezuela or the state oil company, PDVSA, and could make it harder for Maduro to raise badly needed cash 💵 to prevent a debt default.

They also restrict the Venezuelan oil giant's US subsidiary, Citgo, from sending dividends back to Venezuela and ban trading in two bonds the government recently issued to circumvent its increasing isolation from Western financial markets‼️

UCJ, UNILORIN.