VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday ordered an expansion of the civilian militia by nearly one million members as opposition leader Juan Guaido toured western Zulia state, which has been hard hit by electricity blackouts.

The civilian militia, created in 2008 by the late former president and Maduro mentor Hugo Chavez, reports directly to the presidency and is intended to complement the armed forces.

Maduro, who calls Guaido a U.S. puppet, said he aimed to raise the number of militia members to three million by year-end from what he said was more than 2 million currently. Maduro has encouraged them to become involved in agricultural production.

“With your rifles on your shoulders, be ready to defend the fatherland and dig the furrow to plant the seeds to produce food for the community, for the people,” Maduro told thousands of militia members gathered in the capital Caracas, wearing khaki camouflaged uniforms.

While electricity has largely been restored in Caracas, Maduro’s administration is rationing power to the rest of Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said Friday that he rejects military intervention in Venezuela.

He made the remark while meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during which the pair made a deep analysis of the panorama of Latin America, according to a statement from the Chilean Government.

Pinera reiterated that the solution to the problem in Venezuela should always be “democratic and peaceful” and rejects military intervention.

Pompeo highlighted the role that Pinera has played in the region and congratulated him on the creation of the Forum for the Progress of South America, which was launched in Santiago on March 22 by South American countries.

Pompeo’s visit to Chile is part of a trip with stops in Paraguay, Peru and Colombia. (SD-Xinhua)