Be ready for US military action

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro urged his troops Saturday to be “ready” for potential US military action, as a limited number of opposition supporters marched on military barracks in a bid to win the armed forces’ support.

The small turnout for the Saturday marches -- with participants in the hundreds, not the thousands -- is another setback for opposition leader Juan Guaido, following a failed military uprising earlier in the week.

Maduro on Saturday instructed the military “to be ready to defend the homeland with weapons in your hands if one day the US empire dares to touch this territory, this sacred earth.”

Underscoring the continued military support for his socialist regime, Maduro delivered his televised address from a base in northwestern Cojedes state -- where he appeared alongside his defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, and in the presence of more than 5,000 troops.

The United States has refused to take the threat of military action off the table in its push to oust Maduro -- although it so far has limited its campaign to ramping up sanctions.

Guaido’s cause gained renewed support on Saturday from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who issued a video address to the Venezuelan people, telling them: “The time for transition is now.”