https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/08/01/1119589875_0:0:3075:1731_1920x0_80_0_0_ba8bed6280521afb9e080700ee895df8.jpg.webpOn Friday, CNN reported citing sources that US President Donald Trump was considering various options for carrying out military strikes against drug cartels in Venezuela, including on Venezuelan soil, with a broader goal of weakening Maduro. The Venezuelan leader announced the start of training a militia to defend the country, which involves citizens in the national defense system. Maduro presented a diagram of the operational readiness levels of the defense forces and explained that Venezuela was in the yellow phase of integrated defense. The Venezuelan leader explained that, currently, his country was in the phase of non-violent struggle, with political, informational and diplomatic means involved. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US military had struck a drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean that he claimed had left Venezuela. Rubio said that Trump was going to wage war on "narco-terrorist" organizations. Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that Washington was not seeking a regime change in Venezuela, but the US was concerned about "billions of dollars of drugs [that] are pouring into our country from Venezuela." On August 7, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of Maduro, whom the US accuses of leading the Cartel de los Soles. The measure was shortly followed by the deployment of several US naval assets to the Caribbean under the pretext of countering cartel activity in the region. In response, Maduro ordered the mobilization of Bolivarian Militias to ensure the country's defense. Caracas has repeatedly argued that US naval deployments in the Caribbean are unrelated to counter-narcotics efforts and instead serve to pressure Venezuela.