Bangladesh, Sept. 8 -- Venezuela has sharply escalated its military posture in response to what it views as mounting threats from the United States. On September 8, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced that President Nicolás Maduro had ordered the deployment of 25,000 soldiers to key coastal states, more than doubling the countrys military presence in the region. The move comes just weeks after Washington sent warships and thousands of troops to the Southern Caribbean, ostensibly to crack down on drug cartels.

The Maduro government argues that the US operations have little to do with narcotics and everything to do with tightening pressure on Caracas. “No one is going to step on this land and do what were supp...