CARACAS: Venezuela does not want “a slave’s peace,” President Nicolas Maduro told thousands of supporters Monday of a US military deployment he said has been “testing” his country for 22 weeks.
US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Maduro with a major naval build-up in the Caribbean, bombings of suspected drug-ferrying boats, and ominous warnings to avoid Venezuelan airspace.
“We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom! We do not want a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies!” Maduro, who accuses Washington of seeking to topple him, said at a rally in Caracas as Trump was expected to meet with his top national security officials to discuss Venezuela.